Call Me A Freak
by Bookquoting-machine
Summary: When Ben made the proclamation to give the new generation a chance, he expected resistance. He expected bad mannered teens who struggled to fit in. He expected it to be hard. But he was not prepared for what he got. No one in Auradon knew the true struggles of the Isle of the Lost. Or they didn't care. What did they expect when they locked up all the world's worst murderers and t
1. Welcome To My Wicked World

My boots held me steady on the patchy stone walkways.

There was a thick layer of smoke that lay heavy on the streets that morning. Perhaps a nearby gang had gotten angry and burned down another house. Or one of the experimental types had caused an accident. Or maybe I was imagining things and the smoke was as it had always been… lingering.

Shouts rang out down alleyways. Stupid people who had left the house with something valuable on them and lost it a minute later. Or maybe one of the core villain kids had lost their temper and taken it out on a passerby or a shopkeeper.

It didn't matter to me. I smirked, taking in my hometown.

I was a bit out of my neighborhood, but no one would touch me here anyway. These streets were full of lowlife villains who never made that much of an impact. I could have someone murdered on the spot just for looking at me.

And even if it weren't for my status, I was very resourceful. Everyone knew it. My mother would have never let me leave the house if I wasn't. She wouldn't have let me live if I wasn't…

I glanced to my right and found exactly what I was looking for.

I pulled off the street, veering towards the empty, carved out area between buildings. There was just enough room there, and it was smooth.

I dropped my bag to my side and pulled out my spray cans. It was time to go to work.

* * *

I didn't keep track of time as I worked. I never did. I was well aware that I was supposed to meet up with Evie, Jay, and Carlos, but it was of no consequence to me if I was late, so I didn't worry about it.

Lucky enough, Jay found me fairly soon after I had finished.

"Nice work!" he shouted at me as he approached. Jay knew to warn me that he was approaching while I worked on my art. I often got lost in my head and my defense instincts went onto autopilot. So, if I sensed someone around that I wasn't expecting I would happily spray them in the face with my paints.

I didn't turn to look at him, just began to pack up my belongings. The bottles were covered in different colored splotches from my dyed fingers.

As I stood up and threw my bag over my shoulder, I noticed Jay standing next to me, admiring my work. It was a simple design. I had made a silhouette of my mom in black, then surrounded it with green fire. Inside the silhouette were the words "Long Live Evil". I had put up many similar signs around, ones I knew Jay had seen before, but he still liked to appreciate each design for its differences.

"Earth to Jay," I muttered. "I assume you know where Evie and Carlos are?"

He nodded, bringing his focus back to me. "You up for an adventure?"

I crossed my arms. "I guess."

I followed him out of the alley silently and back onto the main road.

"Carlos is pissed," he explained.

I went to answer, but got distracted as he grabbed a piece of sheet metal along one of the walls and pushed it aside, revealing another alleyway.

"Alright," I responded. "Is Evie also upset?"

"Nah." Jay stopped suddenly and looked at me. "Evie was flirting with some salesman when I left."

I rolled my eyes, then mumbled a quick, "Why are we stopped?"

Jay smirked, then patted the ladder attached to the wall beside us. "Because we're going up."

I groaned inwardly, watching him climb, before pulling myself up to the rooftops with him.

* * *

"We're back!" Jay shouted, then slid down the side of someone's roof and landed in front of Evie and Carlos.

Jay was a smooth sort of guy. Socially and physically. I had to wonder where he got it from, considering his dad was a slinky snake of a person who sat around in his early life trying to steal power from a senile sultan.

I rolled my eyes, stomping down far less gracefully

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the latest of them all?" Evie jabbed.

I didn't respond as Jay helped me get down from the edge of the building.

"What do you want me to say? I'm rotten to the core."

Neither Evie nor Carlos was amused by this response.

I simply pushed past them and into the large warehouse. We had gotten word that some of Wonderland's best were hanging in there. Jay had convinced us that it was worth raiding because of some of the strange and antique goods they collected. Jay lived for stealing things and the rest of us didn't mind. The more mischief we caused, the happier our parents were with us.

People didn't take notice of us as we strolled through, splitting off in different directions.

As I walked through, I started to callously knock things off tables and destroy stands.

"Freak!" someone shouted.

I turned around and winked. No point in getting angry. I had heard some pretty foul words. This meant nothing to me.

I reached into my bag, pulling out a random can and shaking it. As I passed through I started spraying certain vendors and curtains purple.

A couple people ran after me, but froze when they saw the green dragons on my back. I reached the back of the warhouse and noticed Carlos riding by on a wagon filled with hay.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" he snarled, before jumping down next to me.

Jay and Evie were quick to follow, leaving commotion in their wake. Jay was carrying a dirty teapot as he shuffled past and opened up the back door for them to escape.

"Welcome to my wicked world," he chuckled to himself as we all ran out and made our way down the road.

As we went, we created a formation of sorts with me front and center. The three of them flocked me, looking around as we went.

People watched our gang walk by. We had all the confidence in the world. After a moment, we stopped, deciding to talk about what our next plans were.

The people around us lessened by the minute. I wondered if we frightened them off. Four of the most powerful teens in all of the Isle of the Lost, with connections to the most dangerous villains the world had ever seen.

But the hope of such distinction was lost as the rest of the stragglers disappeared and left our gang facing a group of men in the same, ratty, brown outfit they'd worn since I was born.

I clear my throat, trying to signal to her goons that I recognized them, before mumbling, "Hi mom."

I would never drop my demeanor in front of my friends or my mother. I need their respect, their fear, for my own survival. But this isn't good. My mother doesn't step out of her "castle" just to visit her daughter. She had a reason for being there. An important one.

She pushes through the two men who were previously guiding her through the streets and faces me.

Those who had met my mother would never forget her face. She was all angles, as if made of slabs of metal. Her expression was never changing. It seemed as though anything you could say or do would ricochet off of her like it was nothing. I was perhaps the only person in the world who had truly seen her react to something and survived it. And that was only because she wanted me to see her like that. She wanted me to know what true fear felt like, coming from her eyes.

My friends didn't move as her guards, who previously surrounded her, moved to surround the five of us.

"Hm. What have the four of you been up to?" Her voice is deep and steady like a long drag from a cigarette. "I hope more than simply walking the streets and stealing from children."

I didn't respond. Why give her an answer she doesn't want to hear?

She doesn't question my silence and continues. "You know, Mal, when I was your age I was cursing entire kingdoms."

I do my best not to roll my eyes. As if I hadn't heard that one a million times.

My mother liked to remind me of her power at all times. The barrier that surrounded the Isle of the Lost prevented any use of magic while inside it. But that only stopped some of her cruelty.

"Oh! There's news!" she finally said. "You four have been chosen to go to a different school," she points between all of us, a smirk lit up her face, "in Auradon."

The three behind me tense up. Carlos looked seconds away from running for his life.

"What?" I exclaimed. "I can't go to some boarding, full to the brim with prissy, pink princesses."

My mother looked almost excited, though. Her eyes were lit up and I realized that this is something she wanted. All that arguing would get me was pain at this point.

My friends refused to say anything. A look from my mother would silence them, even if they tried.

"You're thinking small, pumpkin," she informed me. "It's all about world domination."

She always carried her head as if there was a crown on it. I suppose those thick horns had some weight to them, but whether or not it was necessary, it gave her a sort of regality. It forced her to look down upon those around her and made the snarl of her teeth that much more frightening.

She swung around and left, her goons quick to follow behind and surround her once more. That was their main job. Protect her in the city. Because people like these would happily murder her to take her place. Not that they could if they tried.

I didn't move from my spot. I was happy to watch her walk away and get some distance from her.

Jay slid up behind me, leaning over my shoulder, before saying, "She's joking, right?"

I laughed at him, but there wasn't any humor in my face. "You obviously don't spend enough time with my mother. She would never joke. And by the look on her face… she's got ulterior motives."

"Why would we be invited to Auradon?" Carlos asked, walking around to face us.

I shook my head. "Who knows."

Evie was basically straining every muscle in her body to contain her excitement. "Think about how many castles there are in Auradon! And princes!"

I scoffed, and almost immediately her face dropped to match my disgust.

"Listen," Jay added. "I don't do uniforms. Unless it's leather, you feel me?" He joked, holding up a hand to Carlos, but he was far too distracted to reciprocate the high five.

"I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon. Mom said they're rabid pack animals that eat boys who don't behave…"

I rolled my eyes at Carlos's naive comment. It was fairly well known that Cruella de Vil, Carlos's mother lied constantly to Carlos as a way of manipulating him. He was so sheltered that he hung off her every word about what the rest of the world was like.

"We're not going," I insisted. "I just… need to find out why she wants us to go so bad and convince her she's wrong."

It was Jay's turn to laugh. "You? Convince your mother, the 'Mistress of all Evil'? I doubt it."

I glared at him. "Let's see."


	2. Mother Knows Best

"You _will _go. You _will _find the Fairy Godmother. And you will bring me back her magic _wand,_" my mother snarled.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek. There had to be a way to convince her that this was a bad idea without just telling her that we didn't want to go.

"The wand is pointless on the Isle. I don't see why you'd even want it."

She glared down at me from her throne. "It will work. After you break the barrier from Auradon."

I felt my stomach drop. This was worse than I thought. This required too much responsibility on my end. Too much pressure. It was all too much.

She must have seen my unease, because she beckoned me closer. "Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?"

"Well, yeah," I chuckled. "I mean, who doesn't?"

"Well then, get me the wand!" she demanded before I had even finished. "With that wand and my septor, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!"

"_Our_ will," the Evil Queen added.

I could see my mother's face drop in frustration, but she didn't argue. "Our will," she corrected herself. She had to put on a good face. If I knew my mother, she would just as soon get rid of her supposed "friends" and their children to seize power for herself.

She turned her stare back on me. "And if you refuse… you're dead."

I widened my eyes. "What? Mom-"

But she snapped her fingers in front of my face and silenced me. I shouldn't have been surprised. She would do absolutely anything to get what she wanted, but was death just a threat? I was her last remaining child…

She leaned down to me and in a flash, her eyes had lit up with a sickly, emerald color.

My eyes reciprocated before I could stop them, caught in an intense staring contest with my mother. I was bound to lose. Her powers of persuasion were too strong, but I really didn't want to do this. I didn't want to put my friends through something like this, when I knew they would get nothing in return.

My throat closed up. I was afraid. If I won this, she could simply kill me. Send me out back and have one of her guards crush my skull under his feet. I knew she wouldn't even kill me herself.

"Fine," I muttered, looking at the floor. I couldn't let her see my face right now. It was too hard to veil my disappointment.

"I win," she gloated.

There was a moment of tense silence. I don't think anyone in the room had ever heard my mother threaten me with so much, especially not my friends, and they weren't sure how to respond.

Most of the villains actually cared quite deeply for their kids. This did nothing to make them good parents, but they wouldn't murder their children for disobediance. But Maleficent… she didn't have a heart. She wasn't just evil, she was unstoppable. And it terrified me.

"Evie!" the Evil Queen called behind me. Evie started to bounce over to her mother, as she continued, "My little evillette in training. You must find yourself a prince with a big castle."

Evie's face lit up. She worshipped her mother and her mother's ideology. All Evie could have ever wanted from life was to sit on a throne, surrounded by servants, and riches, and reassurance that she was beautiful.

She giggled in excitement, but her mother shut her down immediately. "No laughing! Wrinkles!"

"Well, they're not taking my Carlos, because I'd miss him too much," Cruella cooed.

Carlos' face morphed between confusion and hope. "Really mom?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Who would touch up my roots, fluff my fur, and scrap the bunyans off my feet?"

His face dropped at the sentiment. "Maybe a new school wouldn't be the worst thing," he grumbled, but she shut him down from that thought almost immediately.

"Carlos, they have dogs in Auradon."

"Oh no, I'm not going!" he insisted.

"Well, Jay isn't going either!" Jafar cried from the other side of the room. "I need him to stock the shelves in my store." He then proceeded to shuffle through all the Jay had stolen on our endeavor today.

"What is wrong with you all?" my mother shouted, regaining my attention. She walked down to floor level with us, grabbing my arm as she went and shoving me down into the seat next to her. "For twenty years, I have searched for a way off this island. For twenty years, they have _robbed _us from our revenge!"

I couldn't help curling into myself as she yelled and threw me around. I stared down at the table, trying to calm myself, while she continued.

"Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men. Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated genie!"

"I will-" Jafar started, in a fit of anger, but Jay held him back.

"Revenge on every sneaking dalmation that escaped _your _clutches! And _I,_ Maleficent, the evilest of them all, I will finally have revenge on Sleeping Beauty… and her relentless little prince," she said mockingly.

"Villians!" she shouted. They all turned to her, awaiting her command. "Our day has come. E.Q.," she turned to the queen, "give her the magic mirror."

The Evil Queen handed her daughter a small object, about the size of Evie's hand.

"This is your magic mirror?" she questioned.

"Well, it ain't what it used to be," her mother responded. "But it will help you find things."

"My spellbook!" Maleficent remembered. "I need my…" she trailed off, in thought, so the Evil Queen nodded behind her.

My mother flipped around. "Aha! The safe!" She ran over to what was, essentially, a refrigerator, containing her most prized possession.

"Come, darling," she beckoned me. As I approached, she pulled it out, running her fingers over the cover. "It doesn't work here, but it will in Auradon."

Not two seconds later, there was a honking outside, signalling the arrival of our ride. She shoved the book into my arms and guided me out to the balcony.

As I looked over the edge, down at the dirty, crowded streets, I realized I was leaving the Isle. _Really _leaving. Not just daydreaming about a different world, where there are fields and clean air, but actually going there. Or… somewhat going there.

Whenever I had dreamed of a better world before, it hadn't been Auradon. I knew that if I were in Auradon, things wouldn't be better. They would be cleaner, perhaps, but not better. I could never fit into a place like Auradon. It was full of royal people who have learned all their lives how to be proper and just and despise those like me. And if I were truly there, it would mean shunning the Isle. It would mean leaving behind all that I knew and possibly having it turn on me, too.

No, Auradon might have inspired this fake world, but this fantasy of mine was perfect. It was made specifically so that I could feel peace.

"The future of the free world rests on your shoulders," my mother told me, her arm still wrapped around me, forcing me to look between the shaky apartments of my city and at the green hills of Auradon.

I could just make it out across the ocean. It truly looked like a paradise for all. But my friends and I didn't deserve paradise. So, what was Auradon going to be for us? Some sort of trap? Punishment? Hell?

"Don't blow it," she added, gripping onto my arm, like a threat.

I made eye contact with her and she sent me a tense smile, which did nothing to make me feel better, then turned on her heel and began to walk downstairs.

I hesitated for just a moment, before following her.

Once I had grabbed my bag and made my way downstairs, I took in the car. Many on the streets were swarming it, throwing rocks or banging on the windows. It was obviously a very strong car, to be able to withstand the fury of the Isle.

I lifted my bag in front of my face, to avoid getting hit, but a few rocks still managed to pummel my arms and stomach.

The driver didn't get out of the car. Probably a smart move on his part. As far as I could tell, he was the first person from Auradon to ever visit the Isle of the Lost and the people weren't exactly jumping to give him a warm welcome.

I set my bag in the back, along with Evie's, Jay's, and Carlos's. As I shut the trunk, my eyes drifted behind me, and I noticed my mother had made her way back up to the balcony to watch us go.

This unsettled me more, and I looked away quickly. I pushed through the crowd of people and slid into the car, where my friends were already waiting for me.

The minute I shut the door, there was silence among us, aside from the muted yelling outside.

The car started with a jolt, taking us away from our parents. It was just a little too much for all of us. Jay and Carlos slowly started to gorge on the mountains worth of candy they had laid out for us, but neither of them talked. Evie watched as we drifted away from the central part of the Isle, the groups of people watching us lessening as we got farther away. And I was staring at the floor, trying to concentrate. I had to make a plan, someway to get us out of Auradon as soon as possible. Once my mother had what she wanted, I would be off the hook.

The wall between us and the driver slowly descended a minute later. Evie turned around curiously, but all the excitement vanished from her face as she saw what was going on. "Look!"

Attached to the Isle was a bridge. Supposedly it was what had brought all the villains over twenty years ago, but there was no going over it now. It was demolished the minute every villain was off Auradon soil, stranding them there.

We approached this bridge now, no other path to turn on, no slowing down.

"It's a trap!" Carlos screamed, and my eyes widened. There was no way they had asked for us, just to drive us into the ocean, right?

We all called out in fear, grabbing hold of one another. But the deathly fall we were expecting never came.

With a look around, I came to realize that the bridge had reappeared. Or, at least, _a _bridge had appeared.

It was gold and circled around us entirely, almost like a tunnel.

"What just happened?" Carlos questioned.

"It must be magic!" Evie giggled from beside me.

I slowly started to realize that we were well past the barrier at this point. This bridge, or tunnel, or whatever it was, seemed to have opened a way for us to safely leave the Isle. And just like that, we were the first villains to get off the Isle in twenty years.


	3. Auradon Prep

As we got deeper into Auradon, my heart rate increased. I knew nothing about this place. I could name every street, building, and person on the Isle, but here? I was lost. And I felt utterly alone.

I had known Evie, Jay, and Carlos for so long, practically my whole life, and I had never entrusted anything in them. All my secrets were _my _secrets.

It was all because of my mother. I knew her plans (not that I had believed she would ever complete her dream of getting off the island) and they didn't include Jafar, Cruella, or the Evil Queen. No… they were all expendable. And so were their kids.

If I got close, I would just end up losing them, I was sure. And tears over spilled blood would simply make me look more expendable to her, too.

It was once we approached the school that I realized how awful going to Auradon Prep was going to be. The kids all cheered outside as our limo approached. Some had banners or flags, others simply waved to us as we drove by. At the front of the school, the band played a quick celebratory piece, in full uniform.

We were the center of attention. The main attraction. They'd probably be watching our every move while here. _How could we pull this off?_

The driver pulled open the door for us. There were a few hesitant looks. No one wanted to get out.

Jay grumbled something, before pushing past Carlos and getting out of the car. I was quick to follow, with Evie and Carlos behind me.

As soon as I stepped out I had to cover my eyes with the back of my hand. It was _so _bright outside. Evie was also shading her face, while the boys squinted and locked their eyes to the floor.

As the band stopped playing, they parted and out walked an older woman in a light blue outfit and two kids our own age.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to dull the aching in my head as I adapted to the strange new surroundings.

"Welcome to Auradon Prep!" this new woman announced in a modulated voice. The entire group in front of us had on wide smiles. "Are the four of you alright?" she added, when she noticed how very uncomfortable we were.

"It's never this… sunny on the Isle," I muttered through gritted teeth. My hands found their way to my hips as I tried to act powerful. My mother was indeed quite the legend and even if I didn't want them to think I was a bad guy, I wanted their respect.

From the corner of my eye, I could make out Jay looking the girl to the right up and down.

The woman in the middle must have noticed too, because she cleared her throat before saying, "I am Fairy Godmother, headmistress."

My eyes narrowed. _It couldn't be that easy, right?_ The others also shifted uncomfortably, looking between them.

The boy on the left stepped forward, politely. "It's so good to finally meet you all. I'm Ben."

"_Prince_ Benjamin," said his female counterpart, who stepped forward with him. "Soon to be king!"

He looked down, the smile on his face becoming a bit tighter as she spoke. My eyes drifted between them, noticing some sort of tension there.

Evie leapt forward slightly at the mention of prince. "Oh! My mom's a queen as well, which makes me a princess," she flirted.

The girl's face scrunched up almost immediately. "The Evil Queen has no royal status here," she informed. "And neither do you."

Evie's face dropped. She backed up beside me as Ben chuckled nervously.

"This is Audrey," he introduced.

"_Princess_ Audrey," she butted in once more. "His girlfriend."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek. She was his girlfriend. That might explain her sense of superiority. But not his tension as she grabbed his hand and swung it around.

"Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around," Fairy Godmother smiled. "And I will see you tomorrow."

She reached down, putting her hands over Ben and Audrey's. It could have been a comforting gesture if she didn't push them apart a second later.

"The doors of wisdom are never shut!" she announced. "But the library hours are from 8-11 and as you may have heard I have a little thing about curfews."

We all nodded, unsure what else there was to say.

She scampered away, followed by the band.

Once we were the only ones left outside, Ben clapped his hands together, a smile gracing his face once more.

He walked around to shake all of our hands, approaching Jay first. "It is so, so, so good to finally meet-" his voice cracked a minute as Jay punched his shoulder rather than shake his hand. "-you all."

I shook his hand quickly, not interested in making friends with the boy for any reason, but he paused once he reached me, his eyes lingering for a moment too long, almost as if he recognized me.

"This is a momentous occasion," he continued, moving onto Carlos. "And one that I hope will go down in history as the day our two peoples began to heal," he finished, shaking Evie's hand and backing away.

"Or the day you showed four people where the bathrooms are," I replied, snarkily.

He chuckled, looking at me. "A little bit over the top?"

"A little more than a little bit."

His face was soft. Much more kind than anyone I'd ever encountered before. Part of me was on edge, knowing that sweet talkers often had ulterior motives and yet, a part of me was comfortable around him.

"Well, so much for my first impression," he laughed and you found yourself joining in slightly.

"Hey!" Audrey interrupted. "You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff."

I almost choked on my own saliva, my eyes widening immensely.

Ben was also obviously very unhappy that Audrey had decided to bring this up and his eyes dropped down to his shoes once more.

"My mom's Aurora," she boasted. "Sleeping Beauty."

I had to keep myself from leaning away from her… or punching her in the face. Both of them were tempting.

"Yeah," I responded. "I've heard the name."

That's all that I could manage to say without my anger getting the best of me. But I did notice Jay and Carlos closing in around me. Perhaps a warning or getting prepared to hold me back if needed. Whatever the matter, I was glad to have them there.

Ben clapped his hands together once more. "Okay! So, how about a tour? Yeah?" He turned on his heel, gesturing to the school in front of us. "Auradon Prep! Originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father, when he became king."

Audrey quickly latched herself onto her boyfriend's arm and followed him around campus. The four of us shared a look of unease, before moving on. We didn't exactly expect to meet the spawn of our parents' sworn enemies so soon.

But I did my best to reassure them that I would be fine around her and proceeded to follow Ben through the front garden.

* * *

"So," I started, trying not to look impressed by the detailed architecture of the dorm rooms. "You guys can use magic here, huh?"

Behind me, Jay was making mental notes of everything valuable and Evie was just about to puke from elation.

"Yeah, it exists." Ben stopped to face us. "But it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals."

I couldn't help the grimace that graced my face. He was trying to be humble, but a king isn't on even ground with the poor, no matter how much he tries to convince them that he is. "Who happen to be kings and queens," I grumbled.

"That's true!" Audrey claimed. "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years."

I was starting to regret reassuring the gang that I wouldn't happily throw her to the ground. I could really use someone holding my arms back right now.

"Doug!" Ben exclaimed, dropping his arm from Audrey so that he could meet up with the band member who was distractedly walking down the steps to meet us. "Doug, come down."

The boy met Ben at the bottom of the steps, turning to face us. He had a kind face, similar to Ben's, however I found myself appreciating Doug's a bit more. Doug just seemed like the kind of person who would care if you were an asshole, whereas Ben wouldn't be able to find a bad bone in someone's body. So, when Doug smiled at us, I saw someone who genuinely thought we were good people. At least… for now he did.

"This is Doug. He's going to help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms." He walked back to Audrey's side and said, "I'll see you later, okay? And if there's anything you need feel free to-"

"Ask Doug," Audrey interrupted.

I would have socked her right there and then, if it weren't for the fact that I realized something. I was the one who was setting her off. I thought she just had the worst personality in the world, and she might, but this wasn't just… Audrey. No, this was Audrey when she's upset or uncomfortable. Angry, even. And suddenly, I liked being around Audrey. Because it meant I was doing something evil while I was stuck in this hell place.

She smiled and dragged Ben off without another word.

"Hi guys. I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy…" Doug trailed off and I turned to find his eyes locked on Evie. "Hi ho," he mumbled.

"Evie," she smirked, glad to find someone impressed with her charms on this island. "Evil Queen's daughter."

It was almost poetic. We just couldn't escape our parents' pasts. But at least Evie got some geek who didn't seem to care for where she came from. My goody-two-shoes counterpart wasn't exactly jumping to be my friend.

Doug looked down at his clipboard, trying to distract himself from the girl now poised in front of him, eyes wide. "So, about your classes. I, uh, put in the requirements already: History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and, uh, Remedial Goodness 101."

I scoffed. "Let me guess. New class?"

He nodded, glancing between us and stopping once more on Evie, who was now twirling her hair between her fingers.

He cleared his throat, looking away once more. "Here. I'll show you to your dorms."

* * *

After we had set our stuff in our own rooms, Evie and I made our way over to the boys' new room. They had already made themselves at home, Carlos playing some sort of game on the tv and Jay sorting through all he had collected on the way over.

"Jay," I called, making my way over to the bed he had everything laid out on. "What are you doing?"

"Stealing," he admitted, pulling out a laptop and flipping it open.

"Okay. So, you could do that _or _you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world," I said slyly.

Evie, who sat on the edge of Carlos's bed, gasped. "You sound just like your mom."

I muttered a quick, "Thank you," in response, knowing I should be proud, but I couldn't care less at the moment.

"You do it your way and I'll do it mine," Jay responded, but I shook my head.

"Uh, uh. You don't get to jeopardize the rest of us for your dad's dumb store, alright? People are going to notice their missing stuff pretty fast and who are they going to blame?"

Jay threw the laptop on the bed, sighing. "We're bad guys. They must have expected this."

"Seriously Jay, we can't give them any reason to send us back. Think about what our parents will do to us if we don't break that barrier."

Carlos jumped down from in front of the tv and laughed. "More like what your mother will do to you."

I sent him a glare and he shut up immediately. I knew none of their necks were on the line like mine was, but they still were being pressured. Their parents also wanted to escape the Isle.

"Evie, mirror me."

We sat at the table and Evie pulled out the small hand mirror her mother had given her.

"Mirror, mirror on th- In my hand," she corrected. "Where is Fairy Godmother's magic wand… stand?"

The mirror shifted, focusing in on a plaque located outside a building. The sign read, "The Museum of Cultural History".

"Can the mirror tell us where that is?" I asked, but Carlos was already on it. He pulled out the new laptop Jay had scored and looked it up.

"2.3 miles from here." He showed us the map between the school and the museum, all laid out neatly.

I looked over the screen, shaking my head. "This place is surrounded by forests and hills. There's no way we could walk it."

"So, we find a ride?" Jay suggested.

Evie was quick to agree. "Tomorrow we can ask around and see if there's an easier way to get there."

"Great," I groaned. "Now we have to go to school tomorrow."


	4. Playing Pawns

Evie and I went back to our own room, leaving the boys to play their game in silence. It was going to be curfew soon enough, and no doubt someone was going to be watching especially hard tonight to make sure we didn't disobey any rules.

Evie had practically made herself at home on her side of the room. She planned her outfit for the next day and laid it out across the bed. Then, she began to set up her sewing equipment on the table.

I opted to just go to sleep. I wanted to be ready for whatever tomorrow brought me and I figured it would take me awhile to fall asleep anyway. My surroundings were new and completely unfamiliar. And I'd never had to share a room with anybody before.

As I peeled my jacket off, I heard Evie practically screech behind me.

"Mal! What happened?"

I swung around to stare at her, eyes wide. My jacket had fallen to my feet. "What are you talking about?"

"Your shoulder!" she insisted, rushing up to me. "What happened?" She tried to reach for it, but I backed away from her.

I knew what she was talking about. The tank top I was wearing put the burns across my back on full display.

The scars reached around my right shoulder and across my spine. They were bright pink, with pale stretch marks littered throughout, caused by overextension before the burns had healed.

I raised an eyebrow at Evie's concerned expression. Everyone on the Isle had seen the jagged scar underneath my left eye. Everyone knew exactly where it came from. So, why wouldn't she assume I had other scars elsewhere?

"My mother happened," I snapped.

Evie faltered on her next response. "Mal, I… That doesn't look very good. I'm worried it's infected-"

"It's just a scar, Evie," I insisted. "The burn is from well over a year ago. There's no need to freak out."

I sat down on the edge of my bed, pulling off my boots. She stood over me a bit longer, but I didn't say anything to her. There was no reason to.

Once Evie had gone back to her sewing machine, I kicked the bag off the end of my bed and laid down.

My mind kept drifting to and from one thought: how much would be revealed before we got back to our parents?

I was never hiding the way my mother treated me. But I didn't talk about it with anyone. All that would lead to were deep and pointless conversations. I couldn't get away from my mother. She was the most powerful person on the Isle. And it's not like I wanted to. My mother taught me how to protect myself from the vicious life on the Isle. She taught me the pain was fleeting, so there was no use in letting it get to you. She taught me what _true _pain was. True fear. Those things never left you.

* * *

_My mother's fingers were like talons against my skin. Her grip was firm, as if she expected me to run any minute._

_My feet were heavy. I stumbled as she dragged me down the short staircase to the back entrance of the castle._

_Every sound was amplified down here. Noises bounced off the concrete walls like a rubber ball. Even slight shuffles of clothing could be distinguished clearly throughout the hallway._

_The back door lead out to a small courtyard. It was surrounded on all sides by other buildings._

_I never went out there, because it made me sick to my stomach. The courtyard was perhaps the only place in the whole of the Isle that didn't smell like smoke. Instead… it smelled of iron._

_When my mother shoved me outside, I froze in fear._

_At my feet was a bloody pulp of a person. They lay in a fetal position, their bruised fingers just barely reaching over their knees. Their hair was matted with blood and dirt. And their face…_

* * *

I jolted awake in a cold sweat, my eyelids still stained by the horrifying image. Luckily, Evie didn't notice, fast asleep across the room.

I pushed myself out from underneath the covers and started to get ready for the day, quickly pushing the dream from my mind. It was almost too easy at this point to forget the horrors I faced during the night. As I walked around, I tried to figure out what would come next for the four of us.

Trying to find a way to get to the museum was number one, obviously. But to do that, we needed someone who had a car and we had to convince them to let us use it… or get them to take us there.

I racked my brain for people we could use as pawns in this plan. Fairy Godmother was the main one. If we could convince her to take the wand out for some reason, we would be golden. Probably not Audrey considering she hated my guts, but there was always the opportunity to start a fight with her if we needed a distraction. Doug was smitten with Evie and he seemed to know a lot about the school. Perhaps he could tell us where they keep the keys to the limo we came in.

As I went down the list, my mind kept jumping to Ben. But honestly, I didn't know what he could do for us. There was no need for us to be nice to him unless he had some sort of use, but I couldn't find it. All I could think was, we need him. We _will _need him.

* * *

The Headmistress Fairy Godmother had set up a black board with the title "Welcome to Remedial Goodness" ahead of us. As she listed off her obvious questions, I found myself distracted.

I began to sketch the wand from memory over a blank piece of paper in front of me. I wanted to make sure I'd be able to recognize it anywhere.

"If someone hands you a crying baby, do you: A) Curse it?, B) Lock it in a tower?, C) Give it a bottle?, or D) Carve out its heart?"

I was beginning to find Fairy Godmother's fake and fabricated voice extremely annoying.

Evie gasped and threw up her hand, but I knew for a fact that she had no clue what the answer was.

As Fairy Godmother called on her excitedly, she tilted her head to the side with a smile, and asked, "What was the second one?"

"Oh, okay," our teacher for the day responded. "Anyone else?"

She was disappointed, looking between us. That's when she noticed my disinterest.

"Mal?"

"C, give it a bottle," I replied, without so much as a look up from my work.

"Correct," she said with a smile. "Again."

"You are on fire, girl." Carlos was leaning back in his seat, not retaining any of the information placed in front of him. Although his eyes were fixed on the board, I could tell he wasn't reading anything.

"I just pick the one that my mom is least likely to do," I explained, trying to get them to pick up on the class so I could get out of there. It felt like there were a ton of heavy coins in my brain and every time Fairy Godmother talked, she was shaking them around.

"Oh," he responded, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the board again.

"That makes so much sense," Evie mumbled beside me.

I wanted to make a snarky response to them all about being idiots, but I was distracted by a high pitched shriek to my left.

Scuttling past the four of us was a stout girl in a baby blue dress. She clutched a clipboard across her chest and continued to glance back at us as she approached the headmistress.

"Hello dear one," Fairy Godmother cooed.

"Hi. You need to sign off on early dismissal for the Coronation." She shoved the pen and papers into the woman's arms.

"Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane," Fairy Godmother started and one thought went through my head: _pawn_.

"Mom, no!" she hissed.

"It's okay," her mother reassured. "Jane, this is everyone."

Fairy Godmother put her hands on her daughter's shoulders as she introduced us. She had this comforting sort of look in her eyes when she was around Jane that made my chest cave in, but it only lasted a minute.

Jane stumbled towards us, then froze. "Hi… That's okay. Don't mind me… As you were," she finished off with a small bow and squealed once again when she walked by.

My eyes followed her down the hall as I began to think of ways she could get us to the wand.

* * *

"You are so smart, Mal," Evie complimented as she watched me shuffle through my new locker. "You got all those answers right in goodness class today."

I shook my head as I tore through my bag. I knew why I was better at remedial goodness than the rest of them, and it wasn't because I was super smart or inherently good. I had learned the hard way to find out what other people wanted me to say. I had grown so used to listening to my mother speak condescendingly and picking up her true intentions.

But I didn't admit this to Evie. I just muttered, "Thanks."

Audrey laughed loudly as she walked down the hallway, stopping only when she saw us.

Evie turned almost immediately, hurried saying her goodbyes and I quickly turned into my locker so that she wouldn't think to talk to me. She had been walking with her boyfriend and another boy named Chad, who I had been informed was Cinderella's son.

I could hear them continue talking a few feet away, but I had no clue what they were saying, until Ben announced, "I think you're wrong about them. I'll see you later."

I finished up switching out my books and shut my locker to find Ben standing on the other side.

"Hey!"

I did my best to subdue my startled look and quickly responded, "Hey."

"How was your first day?" he asked.

I pretended to think about it for a moment. "Super."

"You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class," he smiled. He nodded towards the design I had painted over the front of my locker. It was a quick recreation of the one I left of the Isle the day before. "I could, uh, sign you up? What do you think?"

_Ben was a bit too observant_, I thought to myself.

On the Isle, I spray painted walls to send a message. No one stopped to tell me how beautiful my designs were. Mostly because on the Isle you worried about yourself and only yourself.

Ben cared. He saw my art and thought I was talented. He asked if I wanted to study it more. He even offered to sign me up himself. It was attention that I didn't want to have.

Lucky enough, at that exact moment, Jane walked by. She squealed in fear, then shuffled into the nearby bathroom. A smile graced my face and I held tighter to my spell book.

I flipped back towards Ben. "Way to take all the fun out of it," I joked, before rushing after Jane.

I took in a deep breath, then entered. She was standing in front of the mirror, fixing up her hair when I waltzed in. I saw her eyes turn to circles as she recognized my purple and black attire.

"Hi," I greeted with a kind smile. "It's Jane, right?"

She didn't respond, her mouth falling open. Perhaps she was surprised that I hadn't threatened her or tried to kill her the moment we were alone. I mean, I knew she was terrified of us, so I decided to play that to my advantage.

"Sorry if I startled you. My friends and I can be a bit _rough _around the edges. I guess I was just kinda hoping to make a friend… You probably have all the friends you need though, huh?" I did my best to play the sympathetic card.

"Hardly," she mumbled.

"Really?" I questioned, slowly getting closer. "I mean, with your mom being Fairy Godmother _and _Headmistress? I mean, not to mention your own… personality."

I had to choose my words carefully. This was about building trust. If I showed immediate interest in the wand, then she wouldn't care. But if she thought I was a friend, she'd feel more obligated to show me the wand when I brought it up later."

"I'd rather be pretty," she responded truthfully. "You've got great hair."

_Perfect_, I thought. _I know exactly how to get her to feel in debt to me._

"You know what? I have just the thing for that," I giggled. I opened up my spellbook, flipping through the pages. "It's right… Ah! Here."

I sent her a reassuring smile, running my fingers over the spell.

"Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand new hair." Once I had finished the words, I flicked my pointer finger just as my mother had shown me.

It threw Jane's head around a little bit. I felt bad. It was no doubt startling. But once I was done, she lifted her head to find a longer, curly style that draped over her shoulders.

She ran her fingers through it, eyes fixed on her reflection.

"Wow," she breathed out. "That's so amazing. I wish I could use magic like you."

I shrugged, nonchalantly. "I've been practicing, but I can't do really big magic. Not like your mom! With her wand! I mean, one swoosh from that thing and you could probably do whatever you wanted!"

Her face saddened. "She doesn't use the wand anymore. She believes the real magic is in the books. And not the spellbooks. Regular books with history and stuff."

I rolled my eyes. "What a rip."

This was my chance to persuade her. Convince her to give me the wand.

"You know," I started. "You've got fairy blood in you. I'm sure if you used the wand you could do things yourself. Give yourself whatever features you wanted."

Jane looked down. "Yeah, but I'd need her permission."

"You know, she used magic on Cinderella. Who wasn't even her real daughter." I toyed with her emotions. "Doesn't she love you?"

"Well, of course she does," Jane said quickly. "It's just… you know, tough love. 'Work on the inside, not the outside' That sort of thing."

I was a bit shocked to find her defending her mother's honor so much, but I wasn't done with her yet. I had to think on my toes.

"That's the face!" I exclaimed, gesturing to her disappointed expression. "Yeah! And then just look as if your heart is about to break."

She wasn't picking up on what I was implying, so I held a finger up to show her.

"'Oh mother,'" I overdramatized. "'I just don't understand why you can't make me beautiful, too.'"

I dropped the act and turned back to her hopeful expression. "You think it would work?"

I smirked. "Yeah. I mean, that's what old Cindy did, right? And your mom bippity boppity boo'd the living daylights out of her."

Jane chuckled, thinking it over.

"And hey," I added. "I can totally help you with the magic part, seeing as I'm also the daughter of a fairy."

She was grinning from ear to ear at this point. "If I can convince mom, you're so there."

"Yay!" I cheered.

"Bye!" she said, grabbing her bag to go.

I waved my fingers, cutely, "Bye."


	5. Spells

Jane stopped by our room that day after classes. I was laid out across my bed, sketching, and Evie was sewing at the table.

"Mom said, 'If a boy can't see the beauty within then he's not worth it,'" Jane explained. "Can you believe it? What world is she living in?"

"Auradon?" I grumbled, not looking up from my work. Jane was kind of useless to me if she couldn't get the wand.

"Mal," Evie interrupted. "Do you like?"

I glanced up at the item she had been sewing. It was a dark blue and black dress.

"Yeah," I responded, not much conviction in my voice. "It's cute. Brings out your eyes."

"I know," she said, sweetly.

I bit down on my cheek. It was something I often did when I was trying to hold myself back or stop myself from saying something.

I felt bad that my uninterested replies were enough for Evie. I wish that she would demand more from the people she called friends. She deserved it… but I couldn't show her any more affection than I already did.

I couldn't get close to her…

"I'll never get a boyfriend!" Jane's ramblings brought me back from my thoughts.

"Boyfriends are overrated."

"And how would you know, Mal? You've never had one," Evie teased.

"It's 'cause I don't need one, E," I shot back. "They're a waste of time."

Evie gasped, suddenly. "I forgot to do Chad's homework!"

She jumped up, abandoning her work to scurry over to Chad's backpack. I watched her go, incredulously.

"You're doing Chad's homework?" I scoffed. "That is exactly what I mean."

There was a loud knocking from our wide open door, and in walked a tall girl, clad in a pink blouse and blue miniskirt.

"Hey guys!" She announced. "I'm Lonnie."

We all just sort of stared at her, waiting for her to get to the point.

"My mom's Mulan?" she tried again.

Evie turned away to work on her second round of homework for the night. Jane and I just continued to stare, unimpressed.

"No? Anyways, I love what you've done with Jane's hair. And I know you hate us, and well… you're _evil…_" I smiled at the comment, which seemed to unsettle her. "But do you think you could do mine?"

"Why would I do that for you?" I sneered.

"I'll pay you fifty dollars," she offered.

"Good answer," Evie said, taking the money before I could argue. "I need to buy more material."

She stood up, looking Lonnie up and down.

"Let's see, I'm thinking we lose the bangs. Maybe some layers and some highlights," she analysed.

"No, no," Lonnie insisted. "I want it cool. Like Mal's."

I looked up from my artwork once more.

"Really?" Evie questioned. "The split ends, too?"

I glared up at Evie. Not so much for the comment, but because I knew she was going to insist I do this all so that she could buy some more fabric

She shook the bag, a smile on her face.

I groaned, rolling off the bed to grab my spellbook. "Okay."

I opened it back up to find the spell I had used for Jane.

"Beware, forswear," I repeated. "Replace the old with cool hair."

Just as last time, I waved my finger around and slowly her short hair lengthened and the plain black color became an enriching brown ombre.

She hurried to the mirror in our room, staring at it.

"I know, I know," Evie said, joining her in front of the mirror. "It looks like a mop on your head. You know what, let's cut it off, layer it-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Lonnie stuttered. "I love it!"

"You do." Evie almost sounded disappointed, although I wasn't sure why. Lonnie was satisfied and she got her money.

"It's just-" Lonnie hesitated, still staring at her reflection. Then, she reached down and ripped a slit into her skirt. "There. Now I'm cool."

I found myself smiling unintentionally. "Like ice."

Jane walked up beside her, taking Evie's place, and did the same.

She gasped, staring at the barely visible tear in her dress. "What did I just do? Mom's going to kill me."

Evie looked at me, amused by their acts of rebellion and I couldn't help but feel for them. It was nice to know that outside of being evil, my mother didn't care what I did or what I wore. I didn't have to be proper to impress anyone.

I just had to be the perfect little minion for her.

* * *

When Carlos walked in, I stopped cold. "Is that a _dog _in your arms?"

His face cracked open into the biggest grin I'd ever seen. "This is Dude. You won't believe this, but he's so sweet. He's like my new best friend," Carlos rambled. "Ben introduced me to him while I was practicing for Tourney. You should pet him. He's so soft!"

I grimaced as he held the dog up to my face. "No thanks," I responded. "Where's Jay?"

"Talking to coach about joining the tourney team. Said he'd come over here as soon as he was done."

I nodded and went back to flipping through the pages of my spellbook. I was doing my best to familiarize myself with it. I needed to know my resources and I wanted to memorize the more important spells.

Carlos sat on the floor, leaning up against the end of my bed, while Evie worked on more homework, asking her mirror for the answers.

"Yo!" Jay called, walking in with a brand new tourney jersey on. He danced excitedly as Carlos cheered him on.

"Did your plan work with Jane?" he asked, making his way around my bed. "You going over to see the wand?"

"Do you think I would be going through _every single_ spell in this book if I hadn't _completely _struck out?" I didn't mean to reply so viciously, but something about the room was setting me off.

It started when Carlos walked in, talking about the dumb dog he had laid out beside him. And then Jay waltzing around in his new jersey. I didn't like it. I didn't like the way people in the room were acting.

"Oh, someone's in a bad mood," Carlos mumbled.

"My mom's counting on me!" I shot back. "I can't let her down."

It was just a bit too homey. I was now sharing a room with Evie, who was concerned about my scars and the boys simply came in whenever they pleased. I didn't like how our surroundings forced me to be open with my friends. It demanded that I be in their presence at all times.

"We can do this," Jay reassured. All of us looked up at him. He had himself positioned in front of the window, looking unsure. "If we stick together."

That was a big no-no. I didn't do dumb motivational speeches.

"And we won't go back, until we do," I insisted, trying to move on from Jay's comment. "Because we're rotten…"

"To the core." They all finished the phrase.

"Oh, yeah. I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at Coronation and we all get to go," Evie explained calmly. "I have nothing to wear, of course."

I glared at her. Sometimes I desperately wanted to know how Evie's mind worked, because she was so good at playing with other people, and yet so oblivious.

"What?" she started to say, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Hold that thought." I pulled my legs out from underneath me and rushed to the bedroom door.

Ben stood awkwardly in the hallway, his eyes widening as I opened the door for him. "Hey Mal. I didn't see you guys today, I was just wondering if… you had any questions or… anything that… you needed?"

I pursed my lips, looking back at the others. "Not that I know of."

"Okay. Alright, well uh…" He started to back away from the door. "If you need anything, just, uh-"

"Oh wait!" I called, interrupting his fumbling goodbye. "Is it true that we all get to go to your Coronation?"

He smiled, pleased by my interest. "Yeah, the whole school goes."

"Wow," I replied, twirling my hair in my fingers. "That is beyond exciting."

"Do you think that it's a possibility that the four of us could stand in the front row, next to the Fairy Godmother, just so that we could…" I took a deep breath in. "Soak up all that goodness?"

He opened his mouth, but it took a few seconds for any words to come out. "I wish you could. Up front it's just me, my folks, and my girlfriend."

My mind flashed back to a spell I had seen minutes prior. "And your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

I paused, trying to figure out if I needed anything else for this to work. But nothing came to mind.

I shot him a quick smile and began to close the door. "Okay, thanks! Bye!"

"Oh, no! There's plenty of-" he tried to explain, but stopped himself when he realized I wasn't going to reopen the door.

I looked at the rest of my gang and smirked. "I think it's time that Ben got himself a new girlfriend."

Everyone's face lit up with realization. Evie was standing, running her tongue over her teeth and Jay looked almost giddy at the thought.

"I need a love spell."


	6. Privacy

We headed down to the kitchen, setting up everything that we needed and beginning the spell. It was supposedly going to end up being baked as a cookie.

"Alright, it says that we still need one tear," I said, looking over the book as Evie threw some nuts into the mixing bowl.

"Let's just chop up some onions," Carlos offered, but I shook my head.

"No. It says we need one tear of _human _sadness."

Jay huffed behind me. "A tear's a tear."

"That's not true, Jay," Evie stated. "They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear."

I froze as I listened to her talk. I rarely ever heard Evie speak in full sentences. Much less about something like science.

"Yeah, I knew that," Jay tried, but Carlos was quick to disagree.

"Did not."

"Yeah, I did."

In front of us the door handle to the kitchen began to jiggle and I only had a brief second to cover up the spellbook before Lonnie looked in.

"There you are, Mal. I was looking for you. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair."

I laughed politely as I continued to mix together our spell.

"Midnight snack, huh?" she asked looking over the contents. "What you guys making?"

"Nothing special. Just cookies," I tried to explain, but before we could stop her, Lonnie reached her finger into the mix and popped some into her mouth.

As she glanced over our concerned expressions she chuckled. "What? I'm not going to double dip."

Evie knit her eyebrows together. "Feel… anything?"

"Like it might be missing something?" I covered.

Jay was quickly beside us, leaning toward Lonnie. "Hey there," he flirted.

We all held our breath to catch onto Lonnie's reaction, but we got nothing but a blank stare.

"Could use some chips," she finally replied, walking towards a cabinet in the back of the room.

I let out a sigh as Jay slowly sat down once more next to Carlos. "And those are?"

"Chocolate chips," she said. "Just _the _most important food group."

She dropped a bowl of what I had to assume was the chocolate chips in front of me.

"Wait, didn't your mom ever make you guys chocolate chip cookies?" She grabbed a handful and added them to the mix.

I looked up at her, unsure what to do.

She looked between all of our confused expressions and started again.

"Like, when you're feeling sad? And they're fresh from the oven with a big ol' glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and put everything into perspective and…"

My eye began to twitch as she explained. She spoke to us like this was some sort of universal experience, but what she was describing was too specific. She was remembering something.

And god did that hurt. We didn't even have chocolate chips on the Isle, why on earth would she expect us to know this experience she was describing? I thought back to earlier that day, when Jane came to talk to her mom and how it made my chest ache to see them together.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Lonnie interrupted my thoughts and I quickly pulled myself together.

"It's just different where we're from," I snapped, mixing in the new ingredient.

"Yeah, I know. I just… You know, I thought," she stumbled over her words. "Even villains love their kids…"

She trailed off once more and I couldn't contain myself from laughing a bit.

I could see Evie glance at me, shocked by the reaction. But I didn't look at any of them. I didn't want to. I wanted to get my work done.

"Oh," Lonnie whispered, looking between our varying expressions. "How awful."

She reached a hand out and placed it over mine. I jerked away, automatically, glaring at her, but my anger vanished when I saw a glistening tear running down her cheek.

I reached up without hesitation and wiped it away, doing my best to drop as much of it in the mixing bowl as possible.

"Yeah. Well, bummer, but we have to get these into the oven." As I spoke I looked around at my friends, making sure they were with me and not still off in pity-land. "So, thank you so much for stopping by. Really, really have a goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

While I ushered her out, Evie grabbed the spell and mixed it all together.

"Okay," I sighed, finally getting her to leave. "Boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven."

"Yes ma'am," Evie replied as she walked by with the mix.

I started to follow, but Carlos stepped in my way.

"Hey Mal? You wanna talk about what just happened?"

My mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?"

He hesitated for a moment, checking to see if Evie or Jay was listening. "It's just… Evie told us about your shoulder and back. And just now, when she brought up our moms loving us, you laughed-"

"Carlos," I interrupted. "I'm not having this conversation right now."

Without another thought, I pushed past him and walked towards the ovens.

* * *

"I don't see why you can't do this, E," I grumbled, walking into our dorm room.

I had the scary-ass-love-spell-cookie in a baggie, which I proceeded to stuff into my backpack.

"Because, M, he likes you," she persuaded. "I mean, I don't know if he 'likes you' likes you, but I barely know him. He won't take a strange cookie from me."

I rolled my eyes, turning to look at her. "I barely know him either! Besides, you're a better… _flirt_."

She chuckled, looking me up and down. "Flirting doesn't matter. As soon as you get him to eat that cookie, he'll love you no matter what you do."

I collapsed onto my bed. "I'm going to sleep. Pretending to be a good person is exhausting."

"Alright," Evie responded quietly.

The minute I had shut my eyes, I was back in the same situation from the night before.

* * *

_Their face was perhaps the worst thing I'd seen. One of their eyes looked like it was about to pop out of its socket. Blood ran down their chin and their cheek, still gushing from their mouth. Any section that wasn't bruised yet had a jagged cut through it. They were unrecognizable._

_I wanted to throw up. This was more than torture. _

_This was just a kid and they'd been through excruciating pain._

_I had almost forgotten that my mother was still there, when she said, "We found the boy who stole your wallet, dear."_

_My whole body went cold. This kid. This teenager who was no older than me. He was getting punished like this because of me? Because I let my wallet get away?_

_My mother made sure to discipline me for that one. But normally after that, the matter is done. I make a mistake, she punishes me for it, we move on._

_She had made her stupid goons find the kid. A kid who made the simple mistake, just like I had. His mistake was choosing me as his target. And now, my mother was killing him for it._

_Stealing him away, beating him black and blue._

_The Isle was not a safe place. No one would be able to call this home._

_I heard my mother shuffling behind me, but I didn't dare look away from the body. Any minute now, he could die._

_He whimpered and shook on the cobblestone._

_I wondered how long he'd been missing for. Had anyone noticed yet?_

_My mother then dropped something in front of me. It clanged against the ground, the sound echoing. I didn't look down at it. I didn't want to._

"_Go on then, Mal. Make him pay for it."_

* * *

"Mal," Evie said, gently shaking me awake. "Mal, wake up-"

I freaked out. "_Get off of me!_" I screamed, thrashing around and pushing her away. "_Stop!_"

In my haste, I slipped off the other side on the bed, hitting the ground hard. Evie ran around, but was careful not to touch me again, kneeling down near my feet.

"Mal? Are you alright?" she asked, but I wasn't paying attention to her.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shut my eyes tight, rocking myself back and forth. My shaky breaths were the only sound I could make out. I did my best to focus on them and to inhale as slowly as possible. I needed to calm down.

My stomach spasmed and it felt like the only thing holding my heart in my chest were my arms.

Finally, my heart rate decreased and I felt like I could breathe again. That's when I started listening to Evie once more.

"It's okay," she cooed. "Shh. It's okay. You're safe."

I looked up at Evie. She was still kneeling at my feet, face soft, speaking calmly.

"Hey Mal," she said, once she noticed that I was listening to her. "Are you alright?"

It felt wrong. Being vulnerable. Even in front of someone I'd known as long as Evie.

I never let my emotions get away from me. The only thing that I was allowed to feel when I was outside the castle was anger. Everything else could wait. It could be dealt with when I was in the safety of my own room.

But there was no safety here. I had nowhere else to go. I didn't have a room to myself. I didn't have any time to myself. I didn't even have a bathroom I could lock myself in.

"No." While I was in Auradon, everything was out in the open.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm having a panic attack."

Evie didn't respond to this. She watched me carefully, but she didn't make any move to help. I think she was frightened about setting me off again.

Before I could stop it, a tear slipped down face. Then, another one.

I took in as big of a breath as I could handle and quickly said, "Could you get me some water?"

Evie was on her feet in a second, walking to grab the water that she left of her bedside table. As she did that, I pulled myself off the ground and onto the side of the bed, still holding my knees up to my chest.

"Thank you," I mumbled when she sat down beside me.

"You should put your feet on the floor and lie down on your back," she said.

I looked at her, confused, so she went on.

"You're constricting your airways," she explained. "You'll be able to breathe better when your lungs are free."

I still didn't fully understand what she was explaining to me, but I put the glass down and lay back across the bed, draping my legs over the side.

Evie spoke to me as I stared up at the ceiling. "You just keep thinking about your breathing. Think about getting in deep breaths and exhaling slowly."

I followed her instructions. Silly as it seemed, I had never really listened to someone like this. Evie was providing helpful, sincere advice and I needed it. I never got attention like that.

"What time is it?"

Evie was startled, but quickly replied, "It's almost one in the morning."

I huffed. "Damn."

"What's wrong?"

I was beginning to feel better, or at the very least, more in control of myself, so I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "I'm going to be so tired tomorrow. There's no way I'm getting sleep after that."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, quietly.

I shrugged. I definitely didn't want to talk about it. But leaving Evie in the dark would only raise more suspicions. Concerns.

"Nightmares," I replied, vaguely. "I've been having them for a couple of months."

She nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry. You were breathing really fast in your sleep. I figured it was some kind of bad dream. That's why I woke you up."

I felt like I couldn't stop moving my hands. First, I was rubbing my face, then playing with them in my lap, then running them through my knotted hair. I was worried that if I stopped using them, perhaps Evie would see how much I was shaking. See how much of a nervous wreck I really am.

"I didn't mean to push you away," I said, but it was difficult. Every time I unlocked my jaw, it shook, like I was about to start crying again. "I, uh… I thought for a minute that you were my mother."

Evie gasped when she heard that, her eyes slowly trailing down to my shoulder, then back at me. "M, I am so sorry."

"It's fine," I replied quickly.

But it wasn't fine. And she could see it in my face.

"You know," she started. "I had kinda always felt jealous of you guys."

"Hm?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… I guess, I just wish my mom cared about me the way that your parents had. You and Jay and Carlos. Because, I mean, Cruella is insanely strict, but she loves Carlos. A lot, a lot. He's her pride and joy. Her baby. And then Jay is the _perfect _son. His father does nothing but praise him. Even Maleficent…"

I glanced over at her, not sure what good she could say about my mom.

"I know that things aren't… great with your mom. But, I was envious of the faith that she had in you. You're her number two, almost her equal. She trusts you… All my mom does is criticize me."

I sighed. It was true. And I knew it well enough not to fight Evie on how she shouldn't be jealous that I had a mother like Maleficent. Our parents had conditioned us to want one thing in the world and then, refused to give it to us.

For me, it was power. All my mother could talk about was me ruling the world… and yet, she wouldn't let me anywhere near a leadership position, because the minute I had that, I could use it against her.

The Evil Queen had set up her daughter to always be disappointed in the amount of appreciation she got. With the way that she insisted for Evie to praise her, Evie had expected appraisal back… but all she got from her mother was criticisms.

I finally said, "Just, get some sleep, okay? One of us has to be awake tomorrow."

She nodded, as if she were going to go, but hesitated. I glanced at her questioningly and she carefully reached out a hand put it over mine.

I froze. She must have seen how jittery I was.

She gently encased my hand within hers and smiled at me. "If you need anything, just call."

I wanted to pull away, but I knew that she was trying to be a good friend. And, what was one show of solidarity, right?

"What about your beauty sleep?" I joked.

She shook her head. "Beauty sleep can wait. You're more important to me."

She gave my hand a quick squeeze, then walked back over to her bed.

The minute she was gone, I felt cold.


	7. Guilt Trip

I watched Ben walk down the hallway with Audrey as he usually did, stopping by his locker.

I did my best to be subtle about following them, hoping to catch a moment where Audrey wasn't around. Lucky enough, my locker was nearby and I could pretend to be searching for something inside as they talked.

Once I had pulled it open, Jay slid next to me, leaning against the locker to my left.

"Are you feeling kinda weird about this?" he questioned. "I mean, it's not so bad here, you know?"

I was shocked that Jay out of all of them would be arguing with me about this.

I could see it sometimes. We had only been in Auradon for three days and Evie had loved every second of it. The pretty castles and scenery. Not to mention, Evie was a sweet person. She had some bad manners installed by her mother, but it wasn't like vanity wasn't heard of in Auradon.

And Carlos was finally getting a taste of freedom. His mother was too far away to push him around, so he could pet dogs and mess around with technology to his heart's content.

But Jay and I? We were the Isle kids. We always had been. Stealing things, pushing others around, destroying people's property. We had been doing that together since we could talk.

I couldn't lose Jay now. I needed him to get me through my mom's stupid plan.

"Are you insane?" I asked, which made him drop his smile. "We don't belong here. You're mean. You're evil. You're bad news."

He dropped his shoulders, facing me straight on. "Thanks Mal," he said. "I needed that."

He walked off to flirt with some of the girls outside and I felt my heart pinch. The way that he happily thanked me for telling him something he didn't want to hear was painful. I truly was just like my mother. Conditioning people to be my goons and do my bidding all because I had the title. As if my mother gave me some sort of right over other people.

But then I reminded myself, if he really wanted to stay in Auradon, he could try and stop me. And he wasn't.

"She did it to Jane's hair, too, and Fairy Godmother's not happy about it," I heard Audrey complain. Complaining about me was just her usual now, I assumed.

"What's the harm?" Ben shrugged.

"It's gateway magic!" she insisted. "Sure, it starts with the hair. Next thing you know it's the lips, and the legs, and the clothes, and then everybody looks good, and then… where will I be?"

"Listen, Audrey-" Ben started, but she was quick to hold a silencing hand up.

"I will see you at the game, after my dress fitting for the Coronation, okay?"

"Okay."

"Bye Ben!" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then sauntered off.

"Bye," he sighed, watching her go.

I figured this was my chance, so I grabbed the cookie out of my locker and shut it. "Hey Ben!" I called.

He turned in confusion, then smiled and started to join me by my locker. "Hey."

"Uh, I just made a batch of cookies. Double chocolate chip. You want one?" I shimmied the bag in front of his face, doing my best to sell the whole flirty thing.

"Oh, I, uh, I've got a big game. I don't eat before a big game, but thank you so, so much," he explained, patting my shoulder. "Thank you. Next time, next time."

"No, yeah," I started, trying to keep cool. Think on the spot. "I completely understand. 'Be careful of treats offered by kids of villains.'"

He didn't totally understand what I was implying for a minute, his nose scrunching up before insisting, "No, no, no-"

"No, I'm sure every kid in Auradon knows that," I played, seeing how much he didn't want to offend me.

"No, that's not it. No, no, no. I… I really do-"

"No! I get it! You're cautious. That's smart." I shrugged, trying to be innocent. It was a risk but I pulled open the bag, and grabbed the cookie. "Oh well, more for me, I guess."

I brought the cookie up to my mouth, pretending that I was going to take a big bite out of it, but he stopped me.

"No, No. Hey-" He almost seemed upset that I would eat the cookie I just offered him and without a second thought, he snatched it from my hand and took a solid bite out of it.

I let out a sigh of relief. He chewed it quickly, shaking his face at me teasingly.

"See that? Totally trust you." I laughed, making sure to keep his focus on me as the spell kicked in. "Totally."

Behind me, Evie, Jay, and Carlos were inching closer.

"How are they?" I asked.

"They're good. They're great! They're amazing." He giggled almost like a little kid as he continued to chew. "They're um… I mean, they're chewy and- and you know, the… is that walnuts?"

I nodded.

"I love walnuts." With every word, his smile grew. I was wondering if we would even be able to tell if it had worked or if Ben was just being nice. "I mean, um… you know, the chocolate…" He cleared his throat. "The chocolate- chocolate chips…" He looked down at the cookie. "I'm sorry."

I had never seen him so flustered. Ben always had something to say and here he was, struggling to talk about chocolate chips. It was obviously doing something, even if that wasn't falling in love with me.

As his eyes met mine once more, I was convinced it had worked. "They're warm… and soft," he continued describing. "And they're sweet."

Jay walked around us, eyes trained on Ben.

"Mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?" He suddenly reached up, to take another bite and I had to grab the cookie, afraid that it might enhance his already intensely romantic stare.

As I stuffed it back into the baggie, Jay wrapped an arm around Ben's shoulders.

"How ya feeling, bro?" he asked, but Ben didn't look away from me for a second.

"I feel… I feel… I feel like- like shouting your name." Jay and I shared a confused look before Ben started to _literally _yell out my name. "_Mal!_"

I laughed, throwing my hand over his mouth and slyly handing Jay the cookie.

"_Mal!_" Ben continued, but it was muffled by my glove.

We all looked around to see if we had caught anyone's attention. It probably looked pretty bad: all the villains' kids, surrounding the prince, covering his mouth. But the situation was just too funny.

Jay whistled, looking down at what was left of the cookie.

"Hey!" I said, uncovering Ben's mouth. "You've got a big game tonight, why don't you go get ready?"

"But Mal, I-" he tried arguing, but before he could get any more words out, Jay linked arms with him and ushered him away.


	8. Ridiculous

"_He's bringing that hothead, Jay, in from the Isle of the lost and that little guy, Carlos, can barely hold a shield!_" the announcer explained, while Jay dragged Carlos onto the field with him.

Evie shrieked next to me, turning to shake my arm in her excitement. We were also standing next to Lonnie, who was cheering so loud I thought my right eardrum would burst.

It was hard to focus as they ran across the field. I kept trying to keep track of their jersey numbers, 8 and 101, but in all the excitement of the game, I got lost.

I tried to keep track by listening to the announcer, but I couldn't even concentrate on that.

As I had expected, I didn't get too much sleep the night before and all the energy I had spent worrying about the spell and getting through all my classes for the day without raising suspicions had left me exhausted just in time for the tourney game.

"Hey, you okay?" Evie asked me.

I nodded quickly. "Just tired. But the game's almost over."

"_Jay, hurdling maneuver in midfield_," the announcer yelled. "_He's in the clear! The ball goes back to Jay. He passes to Prince Ben. He scores!_"

The entirety of the bleachers erupted into cheers. I covered my ears, afraid I might go deaf as Lonnie and Evie screamed at each other.

"_Prince Ben has won it!_"

Carlos and Jay wrapped their arms around one another, dancing victoriously. As they spun, Jay grabbed Ben, too, all celebrating their big win.

And I had never seen any of them: Jay, Carlos, Evie… I had never seen them so happy about something.

I crossed my arms, trying not to think about it too much. What was one tourney game compared to taking over the world and making our parents proud?

"_Excuse me!_" Someone new called over the speaker. "_May I have your attention please?_"

I didn't really think about it until Evie stiffened next to me.

I looked up and there he was. Ben was climbing onto the dragon fire shooter, microphone in hand.

"_There's something I'd like to say_." His eyes looked right into my soul

_Hell no._

"E, we need to go," I insisted, trying to push past her, but she wouldn't let me. Her eyes were fixed on Ben, hand over her mouth.

Everyone was silent for a minute. I was pretty sure Ben had no clue what he wanted to say, and that was fine with me.

"E," I tried again. "Let's go!"

"No way." She looked at me, a smile crossing her face. "I need to see this."

"I don't!" I argued, but it was too late.

"_Give me an 'M'!_" He cheered, throwing his hands over his head in an 'M' like shape.

Everyone around was quick to follow, chanting his words back to him.

"_Give me an 'A'!_"

"_A!_"

_He better not-_

"_Give me an 'L'!_"

"_L!_"

"_What does that spell?_" he asked.

And suddenly, the entirety of the bleachers was shouting at me, "_Mal!_"

"_Come on! I can't hear you!_" he prompted.

"_MAL!_"

I hated this. I hated this. I hated this, hated this, hated this, hated this, hated this…

"_I love you, Mal! Did I mention that?_"

At his words the students lost it. Even more than they had when the game was won.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Audrey running off, too humiliated to stick around and for once, I wished I was her. I loved to humiliate others on the Isle. It was a little joy. A way to inflict hurt onto someone else without… ruining their life. But I wished I could be Audrey in this moment, because she was free to get away. No one was stopping her.

"Oh my god," Evie laughed.

"_What_ was in that _cookie_?" I grumbled.

Ben jumped off his stand, running towards us on the bleachers.

"_My love for you is ridiculous_," he proclaimed. People stepped out of his way, giving him a clear path to me. "_It's R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S_."

It was all just too much for me. Evie had to hold me in place, because I wanted to bolt so bad.

He stepped up onto my level, leaning over me. He was breathing heavily, exhausted after his game, and yet he still had the biggest smile plastered across his face.

He moved in to give me a kiss and the whole world stopped. I had to get away. Escape. I couldn't do this.

Fortunately, he was interrupted by someone yanking the microphone out of his hands.

"_Chad's my boyfriend now!_" Audrey said positively. "_And I'm going to the Coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date._"

And, to make it official, she leaned down and placed a big kiss on Chad's mouth.

No one was really sure what to do about the public display of affection, except for Ben who, totally unimpressed, reclaimed his mic and announced, "_Mal, will you go to the Coronation with me?_"

This was exactly what we wanted. Exactly. But when he said it, I almost wanted to say no.

I didn't like this. I didn't like that he had made this into a huge ordeal that the majority of the school was present for. I didn't like that he had humiliated Audrey like that, just because he wanted to tell me now, instead of waiting until he had broken up with her. I didn't like how Ben had stopped being the extremely sweet and thoughtful person that he was just this morning. And I didn't like that I cared.

"Yes!" I shouted into the mic, acting elated at such news.

Everyone clapped for us. How cute it must have seemed to them.

"Let's go, Ben!" Jay called. "The whole team's waiting for you."

"Bye!" I said, letting go of his hand as he left to celebrate with his team. I was thrilled that Jay did that, whether or not he knew it.

I spun into Evie, desperate to get off these rickety bleachers, when I noticed her mood had changed. Her hands lay on her hips, watching as the team ran off together and the memory of her jumping up to get Chad's backpack and start on his homework re-entered my mind.

_She had liked Chad…_

She did her best not to look hurt, but I could see it there. She wasn't happy.

I needed her right now. I needed her to get me out of there. But first, she needed me.

I clicked my tongue, watching Audrey say goodbye to her new boyfriend. "I feel really sorry for Audrey."

She hesitated to respond. "You do?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I feel like if she were talented, like you, and she knew how to sew, and knew beauty tips, then she wouldn't need a prince to make her feel better about herself."

Evie looked down, chuckling. The comment didn't heal the wound, but at least I could distract her from it. Cover it up with a bandaid for now, and let it heal on its own.

"I guess I am kinda talented," she replied, shyly.

"You are definitely gifted."

"... thanks, M."

"No worries, but can we get out of here? I'm feeling overwhelmed."

She glanced at me, then agreed. "We can go."

As we walked off the bleachers, the team hoisted Jay up, a huge trophy in his arms.

"_And there he is_," the announcer cried. "_Jay, the most valuable player!_"

As the crowd clapped for him, he looked down, finding us at the edge of the crowd. His smile broadened and I finally gave in.

Right before we left, I let out a big cheer for my friend.


	9. First Dates

The very next day, Ben insisted on walking me to all my classes.

The minute the bell had rung, he was rushing down the hallway to pick me up.

I barely had time to wave goodbye to Evie, before Ben was beside me, a broad smile being his permanent look around me.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey! Where's your next class?" he asked.

"Downstairs."

He grabbed my hand and we started towards the end of the hallway together. He was quiet for most of the walk, which I appreciated. It was draining to keep up a happy, romantic attitude around him.

However, once we reached the bottom of the stairwell, he paused, and looked at me, nervously.

"Um, Mal?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if… you possibly wanted to go out on a date?"

I pulled the inside of my cheek between my teeth. "Sure," I lied. "When?"

His eyes lit up. "Later today?"

_Crap_. Excuses. Excuses…

I was coming up empty on reason to say no.

"Alright." I panicked.

"Awesome! I'll pick you up at 4!" And just like that, he walked off, his shoulders bouncing in excitement.

* * *

"There you are!" I cried, walking through the grass towards the blue bench Evie was sat at. She was next to Doug, both of them smiling. "I have been looking for you literally everywhere."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I slammed my hands down on the table. "Ben just asked me out on… a date," I grumbled.

Doug muttered, "Nice," under his breath.

"We can handle this," Evie assured me, before whispering a quick, "bye," to Doug.

"Bye," he responded, watching us walk off.

"You're looking a little pale-"

"Yeah. Of course."

"I can fix that with some gloss and some blush," she continued.

"No!" I insisted. "I don't want to go!"

"Mal, this is so exciting. You have to go!"

I shook my head. "E, please don't make me do this."

As I said it, it sort of hit me how reliant I was on Evie now. I had always thought that out of all of them, Jay and I were the most likely to get this job done and make our parents proud. But I needed Evie for this, too. Jay was my brawn and my center point when I questioned myself, but Evie had saved me multiple times the past few days. She kept me sane in this new world.

"Mal, this is your first date. We're going to make it as special as we can," she convinced me.

I stared at the sidewalk in front of me. "I never thought my first date would be with someone under a love spell."

I knew that she heard me, but she didn't respond to that.

As we made our way into the dorms, she continued to talk about what I was going to wear.

"Where are you going?" she questioned, unlocking our room.

"I don't know. He never told me. He just asked if I wanted to go out on a date."

"Hm." She walked in and went straight for her makeup. "In that case, I say you wear a short heel. Still fashionable, but easier to walk around in."

I was barely listening to her. I didn't care much for her beauty talk, I was just hoping to get this over with.

She had me put on a purple dress, with a leather jacket and boots. It was close enough to my style that it wasn't uncomfortable, but I wasn't exactly loving the look. She insisted I sit quietly while she did my makeup, but I made her promise not to do anything extreme.

"Smile."

I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me?"

She sighed. "I need to put on your blush. If you smile, it's easier for me to find your cheekbones."

I hesitated. There was no reason not to smile, but it still felt weird. Then again, I'd been fake smiling for Ben all day.

My eyes wandered as she did this, my lips twitching with discomfort.

"Okay. Easy on the blush." I pushed her wrist away, afraid of how sunburnt I would look if she kept going. "I don't want to scare him away… Not that I could."

"Please. My mother taught me how to apply blush before I could talk," she reassured, putting the brush up to my face once more. "Always use upward strokes."

I watched her start to put the blush away, joking, "My mom was never big on makeup tips. And I… don't have a sister."

She gently applied some gloss to my lips. "Well, now you do. We're going to need all the family we can get if we don't pull this off."

I pulled away from her slightly, then said, "If we don't pull this off, I suggest you guys don't get too attached to me. I probably won't survive long enough to say goodbye."

Evie looked in my eyes. She knew that I wasn't kidding. She had seen my mother's face when she told me that if I didn't go to Auradon, I would be dead.

Her facial features tightened, but now wasn't the time to talk about it. We both knew that.

"My mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way, either," she continued, going back to my lips. "Just ask Snow White."

"Are you afraid of her?" I asked after a moment.

Evie shrugged. "Sometimes," she replied.

She didn't need to ask me the same. Our discussion two nights ago had proved that I didn't have a loving relationship with my mother.

"Moving on," she decided. "Come see."

She stood up, pulling me along with her and situating me in front of the mirror.

It was almost scary, looking at myself like this. I never dressed for me. I only ever picked out outfits when I needed to wear something movable. But the dress was cute, and it didn't look too out of place on me.

As she had promised, the makeup was hardly noticeable, but it looked nice.

I couldn't stop myself from giggling, just a bit, at my reflection.

"I know." Evie put her chin on my shoulder so that she could look at me, too. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"I look…"

"Say it," she prompted.

I couldn't bring myself to say much other than, "Not hideous," but Evie knew what I meant.

"Not even close," she assured me.

I took in a few deep breaths to myself. It was only a couple of hours. I could do this.

There was a soft knocking at the door. I looked at Evie and she gestured for me to open it, making me feeling stupid.

Behind the door stood Ben, in a blue and gold letterman jacket, with two helmets. He was perfectly still, watching me open the door.

"For the first time," he admitted. "I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful."

I snorted. _God, was he cheesy._

"I hope you like bikes." He politely handed me one of the helmets in his arms.

I grabbed it, then turned to give Evie my best unamused face.

She simply smiled, watching me walk off with my new boyfriend.


	10. Truth, Beauty, and Love

Auradon was truly beautiful. As I rode on the back of Ben's bike, I couldn't help but stare at the gorgeous forests and clear skies. Everything about this place was perfect.

I wanted to be angry. How dare they keep all this to themselves and send us off to such a small, gross island? But I couldn't truly be angry. Because in my heart I knew that Auradon was beautiful because the people here made it beautiful. They took care of their world. We didn't.

He slowed down. "We're going to have to walk from here."

I was about to ask him why, when I got off the bike and saw the long, rope bridge which connected the paths between hills.

He must have seen my look of astonishment, because he quickly asked, "Are you afraid of heights?"

I shook my head. "I don't mind. I've just… never seen anything like this before."

He grinned and gestured for me to continue. So, slowly, I made my way across the bridge.

It shook slightly underneath us. As we walked, I held onto the sides, swinging myself from left to right, like a child playing.

"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone," he prompted.

My shoulders tensed up slightly at the thought. I knew that it wasn't his intention to try and get information from me. He was just making conversation. But it brought up so many bad things in my mind.

I pushed aside the thought and settled on telling him something that very few knew about me.

"My middle name is Bertha."

"Bertha?" He sounded like he didn't totally believe me.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Bertha," he repeated, letting the sound roll over his tongue.

I chuckled. "Just my mom doing what she does best! Being really, really evil." I paused in the middle of the bridge, staring down at the canyon below us. "Mal Bertha…"

He stopped beside me. "Mine's Florian."

"Florian?" I laughed as he confirmed it. "How princely. That's almost worse."

"I mean, it's better than Bertha," he shot back. "But it's still not good."

We stumbled to the end of the bridge and I paused, not sure where to go next. There wasn't a clear road, like the one that we rode on.

"Alright," he said, stepping around me. "For the last part of the journey, you have to close your eyes."

My brain went into fight or flight mode. "No, No. I think I'm good-"

"No, it's fine!" he insisted. "It's not that far and-"

"Ben, I'd really rather not-"

"What do you think is going to hap-"

"_Please Ben!_" I interrupted.

His eyes went wide, but he didn't argue with me anymore. He shrugged it off and said cheerfully, "Okay. Watch your step!"

We walked quietly through the forest, my feet sliding over the moist leaves on the ground. It was peaceful. The woods were enchanting and the leaves let in just enough light that it wasn't cold.

Ben paused, turning to grab my hands and bring me closer to him. I didn't even realize that he was turning me to face a clearing until he had me positioned right in front of it.

My jaw dropped open. We had made our way to the bottom of the canyon, where a shallow pond had formed. Situated on the edge of the water was a small pavilion. It was old, with vines running up the stone columns and destruction around the top ring.

In the center, Ben had set up a small picnic. It consisted of a blue blanket, a wicker basket, matching pillows, and small portions of food. The whole thing was ethereal.

"Go on," Ben told me.

My feet moved on their own. I was as light as a feather as I made my way down the last bit of hill and towards the pavilion. I had never felt so elated to be somewhere in my life. I truly felt… like a princess.

I didn't want to be enjoying myself, but in the moment, what I was pretending to feel and what I was actually feeling were crossing lines.

Ben sat me down and insisted I have a bite of everything. He was shocked to find so much of the food was uncommon on the island, but I just shrugged it off. Just by staring at Auradon from my mother's balcony, I could tell that a lot was different there… _here._

"Is this your first time?" Ben questioned. He leaned on his right arm, watching me stuff different baked things in my mouth.

I shrugged, rubbing the crumbs off my hands as I finished chewing. "We don't really… date much on the island? It's more like… gang activity."

He chuckled. "Um… I meant… Is this your first time eating a jelly donut?"

I froze. "Is it bad?"

He pushed himself into a seated position and reached forward. "You got a…" I let him brush some scraps from my lip, or attempt to, before saying, "Here, do this."

He demonstrated licking his lips and I quickly followed suit. The lipstick that I had on was bitter in my mouth.

"Gone?"

He didn't respond, but I knew he would have told me if there was still food around my mouth, so I let it go.

"You can't take me anywhere, I guess," I joked with him.

"You know," he started. "I've done all the talking. Your turn. I really don't know that much about you… Tell me something."

I glanced down at my lap. What was I supposed to say? The things that Ben could tell me about himself were fun stories about his family and his friends. I didn't really have any of those… at least, not any that he would find the same amusement in.

"Well." I blew air out, thinking of just about anything. "I'm 16 and I've only ever lived in one place."

"Me too! We have so much in common already!"

"No," I giggled. "Trust me, we do not."

He seemed to lose a bit of his excitement as I said that. I didn't mean to ruin his mood, but the statement that Ben and I had similar lives was just too much of a stretch.

I tried to change the subject. "And now you're going to be king."

"Yeah." His voice got quiet.

"What?"

"A crown doesn't make you a king," he said.

I frowned. "Well, it kinda does."

"No… Your mother is mistress of evil. And I've got the poster parents for goodness… But we're not automatically like them," he admitted. "We get to choose who we get to be. And right now, I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil… I can see it."

My heart skipped a beat. Ben could look at me with so much sincerity and say the biggest lies. I knew that he believed that to be true. Sometimes _I_ wished it were true. But I was raised by Maleficent for sixteen years. There was no saving someone like me at that point.

"Let's go for a swim," he suggested.

"What?" I jumped slightly. "Uh…"

"Come on!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, right now," he said, standing up and beginning to unbutton his shirt.

I rubbed my hands together, anxiously. I had no clue that this was a part of his plan for the afternoon. "I think I'm just gonna stay here."

"No, no, no. Come on." He reached out a hand to me, but I wasn't budging.

"I think I'm gonna stay behind and try a strawberry." I grabbed one of the small fruits from the bowls he had laid out. "I've literally never tried a strawberry before."

I stuffed it in my mouth, pretending to enjoy it, in the hopes that he would take the hint and go on alone. I didn't need to act for long though, because the minute I started actually chewing, I was in heaven. It was sweet, and juicy, and I found myself devouring the rest of it in seconds.

Ben laughed at me as stuffed the rest in my mouth and reached for another. "Alright. Don't eat them all."

I nodded quickly while he walked off.

I was so enraptured by the delicious new fruit, that I hadn't paid attention to where Ben had gone and didn't look up from my food until I saw him climb atop some rocks from the corner of my eye.

I stood up and walked to the edge of the pavilion, hoping to make him feel better about the fact that I refused to go in with him.

He waved as soon as he was fully standing on the small cliff, the sun hitting half of his body. His hair practically glowed in the light.

"_Are those little crowns on your shorts?_" I shouted to him, gesturing to the blue bathing suit he was in.

He looked down, rubbing his hands over his legs. I got the feeling that he was embarrassed about the designs, but when he glanced back at me, all he said was, "_Maybe!_"

He took in a deep breath, then roared at the water, as if he was about to take it in battle. I wondered if he had picked that up from his father, silly as it seemed. He leaped, pulling in his legs to his chest before he hit the water.

It was all just some stupid fun, but I was enjoying the date. I finally was reaching a point where smiling and laughing around Ben was almost natural. Perhaps the spell was wearing off just a bit, making him more human and less like a lovesick puppy.

I could hear my rational thought yelling at me to stop. I had spent the majority of my life preventing myself from getting attached to anyone and then, three days at Auradon and suddenly I was relying on everyone. Jay, Evie, Carlos, Ben…

I had thought that I could walk some sort of invisible line between enemies and friends with all of them. I had acted like we were all together on one side of the fence, but in reality, I had one leg on either side. And now, they've caught me. They pulled me over to their side, where everyone was close and happy… but I couldn't allow that.

I wasn't under constant surveillance by my mother, like I had been on the island. It had left me with freedoms I never had before and began to explore. But we would be sent back to the island soon enough and then what could I do? Would all of us just forget the things that happened while we were here?

_Ben is under a spell_, I reminded myself. He should mean nothing to me, because in reality, I mean nothing to him.

I thought back to my talk with Evie after we had made the cookie. She had insisted that I be the one to give it to him. And during this whole charade, she had acted so excited for me. '_Because, M_,' her words came back to me, '_He likes you_.'

Maybe Ben did like me. Before all of this. Maybe he already had feelings for me and that was why he became so unbearable when he first had the spell. Because the spell just enhanced the feelings that were already there.

But even if he had liked me, once the spell was gone, he wouldn't want to stay. No one would want to be with someone who just takes advantage of them.

I was confused, lost in my own thoughts. This wasn't a debate I would ever have on the Isle. Because on the Isle, the only deciding factor was: would my mother approve?

I determined it was better to focus on right now for the time being. If Ben got back and saw me so distraught, he was going to ask questions.

That's when it came to my attention that I hadn't seen Ben since I watched him jump into the pond. There were some rocks and other things to block my view of him, if he had swam farther out, I reassured myself, but as I listened, I didn't hear anything. I didn't hear him splash or paddle around. I couldn't hear him come up for air. The whole place was silent.

"_Ben?_" I called. My voice echoed around the canyon, but didn't send back any response. "_Ben?_"

Had the heir to the throne drowned?

"_Ben!_" I shouted as a last ditch attempt.

No response.

This was not good. There were no witnesses and I was the daughter of the evilest villain of all time. People would see this and insist I had killed him. I would be sent back to the Isle before I had time to defend myself.

And I would be back on my mother's doorstep, empty handed.

I could only think of one thing to do. Luckily, the water around the pavilion was very shallow and I could jump in without it so much as hitting the bottom of my dress.

I waded out a bit, feeling the water rise around my waist and arms with each step. I kept my eyes trained on the water ahead of me, looking for any smear in the waves that could possibly be Ben.

I was so determined to find him, I didn't notice the gentle decrease that was below me had disappeared into a much deeper section of water. I missed my step on the edge and before I could think to catch a breath, my head sank below the surface.

It was terrifying. I waved my arms frantically, bobbing up a few times, but as soon as my lungs hit the air, I would violently cough before being forced back under, unable to inhale a thing.

My mind wandered. It would look better for me if both of us had drowned, instead of just Ben. And perhaps… Perhaps death wouldn't be so bad… Perhaps I could finally just escape.

Something grabbed me around the back, hitting the backs of my legs. I tried to get away, but I wasn't strong enough to do more than tap it.

It dragged me along with it, until my mouth hit the surface once more. I sputtered, my chest convulsing as it attempted to release all the water from my lungs. My nose and throat burned once I was finally able to get in some fresh air.

The next thing to pop up above the water, besides my flailing feet, was Ben's head.

Once I had recognized him, I stopped resisting and he began to carry me back to the edge of the pavilion, bridal style.

He set me down, shaking all the water out of his hair. I coughed up the last of the water, groaning. The outside wasn't warm enough to prevent me from freezing while soaked. And my boots were _full _of water.

I glanced at Ben, who was looking me over concerned and I snapped. "You scared me!" I yelled, smacking his arm.

He was startled and pointed back at the water. "You- you can't swim?"

"No!" I cried in frustration.

"You live on an island."

"Yeah, with a barrier around it, remember?" I replied, snarkily. I reached up for my hair and began to squeeze some of the water out of it.

"And you still tried to save me," he murmured.

"Yeah," I grimaced. "And do you thank me? No! All I get is soaking wet."

"And uh… this fancy rock," he said, holding up a glowing, white crystal. "It's yours. Make a wish and throw it back in the lake."

He gently placed the rock in my hand and gestured for me to throw it.

All I could think to wish for was that no one would hear about this incident and I chucked it a few feet away before standing up to let some of the water out of my dress.

He hopped up beside me and as I released some of the water from the hem, he gently pulled my leather jacket back from my shoulders.

I didn't have a moment to stop him before he noticed the scars peeking out from the top of my dress and froze.

"What are you doing?" I flipped around, lifting the jacket back up.

"Mal," he said, his voice suddenly serious. "What happened?"

"I got burned," I grumbled.

He shook his head, eyes trained on me. "_Mal, _what happened?" he repeated.

I pulled at the ridged skin inside my cheek. "Things are just different where I'm from."

I wanted to get away. First Evie, now Ben.

He grabbed my chin. It wasn't forceful, like my mother would when we were disagreeing about something, but it caught my attention.

He looked me straight on and said, "Did Maleficent do this to you?"

"Ben…"

"Mal." His voice was filled with concern. It was… _scary._

"You already know the answer to that," I whispered. I was worried if I spoke any higher, my voice would crack or I would begin crying. "Why were you taking my jacket off anyway?"

He let go of my chin and mumbled, "It was wet… I was going to give you my dry one instead."

My breath hitched. And something came over me. Who knows what it was: sympathy, understanding, desire.

I started to peel the wet, leather monstrosity from my shoulders. Ben was confused as he watched me rip the sleeves from my wrists and handed it to him.

He caught on as he took it from me, walking over to the chair he had dropped his varsity jacket on and switching them out.

I stood still, letting him drape the varsity jacket around my shoulders. It was a sweet gesture. One that I couldn't forget. He gave me a meaningful look as he did it, rubbing my arms underneath it to warm me up a little.

He walked back to grab a towel and I lowered myself back down on the edge of the picnic blanket, him joining me after he had wiped off most of the excess water.

There was a pause between us. _What was there to say?_

While I was looking off, shivering under his jacket, Ben reached out and began to play with a small section of my hair. I didn't move my head, not wanting to disturb him.

"Is that why you wouldn't let me cover your eyes? Because your mom?"

I shrugged. "You can't let your guard down on the Isle, Ben. And I know that you wouldn't rob, or kidnap, or kill me like someone over there would, but that's the only thing I know. You never give the other person an advantage over you."

He hummed in understanding. "Uh, Mal…" The nervousness in his voice caused me to turn towards him. "I told you that I loved you. What about you? Do you love me?"

My eyes glazed over before he had finished. Because as soon as he said the word 'love', I was reminded harshly that _this_, all of this, was because Ben was under a spell. And if we hadn't done that to him, all so that I could steal the wand and take over his kingdom, I wouldn't be here.

I could see the hurt in his face as I struggled to answer. But I couldn't just lie… not this time.

"I don't know what love feels like," I admitted, glancing away.

He put his fingers under my chin once more and I was caught. I didn't want him to see me like this. Vulnerable. But this was Ben.

He smiled, running his thumb along my jaw. "Maybe I can teach you."


	11. Missing You

"Hey Mal? Can I ask you a dumb question?" Ben asked as he walked me back to my dorm.

We were both still wet, catching odd glances from people who passed us by. But luckily, we weren't dripping all over the school. Ben had put back on his regular clothes, so he looked almost normal, despite his hair. I, on the other hand, was a sad sight.

"Go ahead," I replied nonchalantly.

"So, the other day I introduced Carlos to Dude, our campus dog and he was petrified. And I asked him why and he told me that Cruella had told him all this bad stuff about dogs and stuff… and I was just wondering if you knew why she had… told him that? Because, she's not afraid of dogs…"

I shook my head. "No. It's all part of her plan to have complete control over her little boy."

Ben's face scrunched together in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Cruella de Vil is the most manipulative person on the island. Fortunately, most of us don't see it, but Carlos _lives _with her. If he's scared of dogs, then she can use that as an excuse to make him do what she asks or… scare him away from coming to Auradon. Things like that," I explained. "She has Carlos hanging off her every word. And every other word out of her mouth is a lie, so… he sometimes doesn't understand things that we do."

Ben bit down on his lip. "I'm sorry."

"No one has it great on the island," I responded. "Carlos is truly very lucky. Because his mom does love him. She does that because she's messed up in the head and believes that that is the only way to guarantee that he'll always stay with her. Always be her little boy."

We stopped outside my door. I wanted to tell him more for some reason. I wanted to explain what life was like for a kid on the Isle. I wished that Ben could _know _our pain.

But… all that would do is make him feel guilty.

"Goodbye, Ben. I had a really great time today."

His smile reappeared. "I did too."

I opened my mouth to say something more, but behind me, the dorm room swung open and Evie sighed.

"There you are," she huffed. "I was worried you had died or something. You two were out for so long. Hi Ben," she added, with a smile. "We need you to- Why are you sopping wet?"

I gulped. "Uh… lake."

She shook her head, obviously exasperated. "We'll deal with that later. Come on."

She linked onto my arm and pulled me in.

"Bye!" Ben was able to call out, before Evie closed the door on him.

Inside, Jay and Carlos were already lounging around on our furniture. Carlos had his laptop in front of him, like he often did nowadays, and Jay was laid out across my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"How did it go? Are you okay?" Evie interrogated, pulling me away from the door.

"It went fine," I said, suspicious of why they were all sitting around, waiting for me to get back.

"We were actually scared that Ben had murdered you on the side of the road," Jay said, not showing any concern.

"This is Auradon. And _Ben_. Why on Earth would you think that he'd hurt me?"

"I knew you didn't want to go," Evie explained. "I thought that you'd get out of there the minute you had a chance. Now seriously, why are you wet?"

I cleared my throat. "I wasn't kidding. Lake."

She raised her eyebrows, then seemed to realize that I wasn't going to elaborate on the further.

"Woah, M," she started, startled. "You're wearing his jacket… Did he, uh, see your back?"

The boys' ears perked up when they heard Evie bring up the old injury.

I crossed my arms, hesitating. "Yeah, he did."

Everyone shared a look between them. It made me feel as if I had messed up. I could feel their unease at the thought that Ben knew and I wasn't sure how to feel about it either.

I groaned.

Evie was the one to pull them out of their thoughts, saying, "I think we should get you into some dry clothes. Boys, you can go."

They moved sluggishly, as if one of them would come up with a way to remedy this situation any minute now, but no one had any suggestions. I watched them go past, when something came to mind.

"Oh, Carlos!" I said.

He tensed up, unsure of what I wanted. "Yeah?"

The fear in his eyes made me sad. On the Isle, all you could ever want was to look down on someone and see that they were afraid of you. Normally, I wouldn't do that to my friends.

In Auradon though, we were always afraid. Most news was bad news. And I was different now. Carlos knew that.

"I just wanted to say… Sorry for snapping at you the other day. In the kitchen. I was… tense."

He looked shell shocked. "Yeah… I mean, no it's cool. I just… We're all here for you, Mal."

He didn't wait around to see my reaction. He turned and followed Jay out the door and back to their dorm room.

* * *

"Children," Fairy Godmother started, interrupting us from our classwork. "Excuse me. As you know, uh, this Thursday is family day here at Auradon Prep. And, because your parents can't be here due to, uh… distance, we've arranged for a special treat."

We shared a look between us. None of us were… _disappointed _that our parents couldn't be there, but we were more than happy to take whatever surprise she had planned.

She approached the tv she had set up at the front of the classroom and pressed a button on the console.

I almost screamed the minute my mother popped up on the screen. Her face was directly in front of the camera, blocking the other parents from view. And she looked _pissed_.

"I don't see anything!" she growled at the screen, slowly moving back into her seat.

"Kids," Fairy Godmother prompted, noting that none of us had gotten up to look at the screen.

I didn't move for a moment, staring at my mother with wide eyes.

I had been under this idea that my mom couldn't reach me in Auradon, but I was a fool to think so. I could never escape my mother… not truly.

Evie put a hand on my upper arm, slowly guiding me out of my seat and up to the tv, with the boys.

"Can I please see a remote!" my mother screamed at the Evil Queen, aggressively pushing buttons. "Ugh. It's broken."

A second later, all their eyes widened, presumably because we popped up on the screen.

"Evie!" The Evil Queen cried, looking at her daughter. "It's mommy!"

Evie waved at her mom.

"Who's the old bat?" Cruella squinted, trying to get a better look.

My breath hitched when I saw our teacher's face drop. "This is Fairy Godmother," I explained.

"Still doing tricks with eggplants?" Maleficent jabbed.

"I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage," she defended.

All the villains started laughing. Before this could become an actual argument, I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "Thank you so much," trying to prompt her to walk offscreen.

She did after a moment, leaving us alone to face our parents.

"Mal!" my mother screeched, finally getting in a good look at me.

Her voice made me jump. I tried to play it off, but I knew that she could tell something was off with me. All I could hope was that she assumed I was putting up a front while Fairy Godmother was around.

"I miss you!" she lied. "When will I ever get to see you again darling?"

I wanted to vomit in my mouth. "There's this big Coronation coming up. I assume it will be after that," I explained, trying my best to hint at her that we had a plan for getting the wand.

"When?" she questioned.

"Friday. 10 am."

With every word, her voice lost its false excitement. "Are you sure I can't see you before then?"

I sucked in my lips, nodding.

"Carlos!" his mother shouted. "Is that a _dog?_"

Carlos looked at all of us, Dude in his arms. I should have realized that this would be an issue. Dude never left his side these days.

"Mal!" My mother grabbed my attention once more. "I could really use you back here on the Isle with me. I'm counting you to help me with my summer plans."

It was so fake. My mother was threatening me through a camera and for some reason, I wish she was here to do. Because it wouldn't feel so fake. Because then I wouldn't be so conflicted over what to do. Because when I was with her I never felt as scared as I did right now.

"I know, mom," I said, breathily. I was losing oxygen.

Evie saw and sprung into action. She reached an arm around and smacked Jay, signalling to me. Jay caught on a second later, shutting off the tv, before our parents could notice that he was reaching for the button.

The minute the screen went black, she wrapped an arm around me and started to guide me out of the room.

"Evie, what are…?" I felt light-headed.

"Boys, grab our stuff!" she called back, pushing me straight past our desks.

"Mal? Evie? Where are you going?" Fairy Godmother questioned, but Jay was in her path before she could stop us.

"Thanks for the special treat," he said, trying to make her feel better about the fact that the idea had truly been a trainwreck.

Evie just walked on, guiding me through hallways and back to our dorm room. I didn't stop her. I couldn't if I wanted to. I was just so startled.

I had stayed calm. Throughout most of the phone call, I had been fairly normal: telling my mom what she wanted to know and listening to her demands. But the minute she had become threatening, I lost it.

Evie shut the door behind us and automatically pulled me into a hug. I didn't say anything, didn't even hug her back.

"Breathe with me, okay? In… Out…"

She kept this up until the boys came back, walking in silently, backpacks in hand.

"Did you explain to Fairy Godmother what's going on?" she questioned.

Carlos nodded, eyes fixed on my vacant expression. "We just said that Maleficent was threatening Mal. She didn't ask why or how."

"Are you okay Mal?" Jay asked.

I blinked a couple of times. "It's like she's suffocating me. Just by looking at her my whole body feels heavy… like I'm already dead, simply staring as she laughs and walks away from the carnage."

"Mal, it's okay," Carlos started. "Your mom can't get to you here-"

I scoffed. "You must not know my mother. I've been pretending that we could just stay here and live out our happy lives in Auradon, but my mother won't give up that easy. Once she realizes that I failed, or gave up, or whatever sad thing happens, she's going to find someone else to do the job for her. And the first thing she will do once she's here is kill me. Or worse."

No one responded. They didn't need to. We all just let the weight of the task that had been dropped on us sink in.


	12. Lie To Me

We all met up the next evening to finalize our Coronation plans. I had some sketches I'd made laid across the table, along with a map of the castle, where the Coronation would be taking place.

"Okay, we all know what this looks like," I said, pointing to the wand. "So, it'll be up on the dais, underneath the Beast's spell jar. We'll be coming in from here. I will be in the very front. You all will be up in the balcony."

Carlos reached over, getting a look at the floor plans.

"Carlos?" I asked.

"Okay, so I'll find our limo and we can break the barrier. And, uh, get back on the island with the wand," he explained.

"Perfect. Evie?"

"Yeah?" She turned, watching me pull a glass out of my bag.

"You will use this to take out the driver." I handed the bottle to her, pointing to the compression area. "Two sprays and he'll be out like a light."

"Okay," she whispered.

Everyone was silent. With nothing else to explain, Carlos and Jay stepped away from the table. Evie sighed, stuffing the glass into her bag and moving to leave. And I began to shuffle through my spellbook for what I could only hope to be the last time.

The script at the top of the page was so windy and intricate I could barely read it. But Evie could tell what it said the moment she stepped away from the table.

"M, you want to break Ben's love spell?" she asked, startled.

I lifted a shoulder, halfheartedly. "Yeah. You know, for after."

I could hear the boys shift in their beds behind us.

"I don't…" Evie started, but I knew what she meant.

"I've just been thinking, you know, when the villains finally do invade Auradon and begin to loot, and kick everyone out of their castles, and murder their leaders, and destroy all that is good and beautiful… Ben still being in love with me seemed a little extra… cruel." My lips sneered around the last word.

Evie didn't argue with me, like I thought she would. She was all for true love and she seemed convinced that what Ben and I had was real… but at the same time, Evie knew how awful things were going to turn out for him. Why leave Ben a confused, heartbroken mess on top of that?

I shut my book and stormed out. I wasn't mad at them. But I felt angry nonetheless.

Why did the universe decide to show me so much goodness in the world, before having me fill out my life's purpose to destroy it? Why couldn't I stay happily on the island, where I could laugh at my mother's destruction of Auradon, never to have gotten to know Ben or lost confidence in the work of evil?

I marched myself straight to the kitchen, getting started on the antidote.

This recipe would supposedly create a cupcake. As I waltzed around, grabbing all the ingredients called for, Jay silently strode in.

I jumped, when I turned around and saw him standing above my mixing bowl, reading the spellbook.

"Jay," I murmured, bringing the last two things I needed to the table with me. "What are you doing?"

"Helping," he responded and before I could ask what that meant, he reached for the first thing the directions listed and started pouring it into the bowl.

I was a bit too shocked to do anything, simply staring at him. He began adding more mixing them in together as he went.

"Listen, I don't mind doing this by myself, but I think you should know that I've never baked a single thing in my life. So, if you want this to look like something edible, you should probably help."

A small smile tugged at my cheeks and I joined him in his work. We were silent for most of the evening, working simultaneously.

"Mal," he said, breaking the silence, "Can you do me a favor?"

I blinked, caught off guard. "What is it?"

"Lie to me," he replied. "I need you to lie to me and tell me that being a villain makes you happy."

I opened my mouth, but my throat closed up. I wanted to insist that that wasn't a lie, but it was like my whole body was fighting against me.

"I-I don't…" I stuttered.

His face dropped all it's tension and worry. He looked me up and down like he was assessing the damage.

"Mal, this whole plan comes down to you. The rest of us… we're not going to stop you. Our families are counting on us too. And we will follow you no matter what your decision. But I think that you should take a look at your whole life on the island and the few days that we've been here and really think about what makes you happy. And don't tell me that it's listening to your mother, because we all saw you after that call yesterday. She shouldn't factor into your decision at all."

My eyes stung as he spoke. Because it was Jay…

Jay who looted, and destroyed, and taunted with me. Who was always up for the mischief I had set myself to.

But also, it was the Jay who complimented my artwork as I plastered it all over the Isle. The Jay who wasn't pissed when I was late to meeting up with them and who searched the island for me when I wasn't present.

It was _my _Jay.

One tear slipped down my face. "Jay… they'll never accept us."

"We won't know that for sure until tomorrow, for parent's day. And Friday, for the Coronation. The whole kingdom will practically be there."

The tear reached my chin and dropped into the bowl, completing our mixture, but I wasn't completely paying attention. "I'm so scared of her, Jay."

"Maleficent?" he asked. Another tear started to slide down my cheek, but he was quick to reach up and wipe it off. "Mal, why don't you worry about what you want right now. Maybe Maleficent will try again. And if that happens, we'll do our best to stop her. But for right now, she can't get to you and I think you should really consider a life without her."

He picked up the bowl and mixed in my tear, completing the spell.

"I'll put this in the oven," he mumbled, walking past me as I continued to cry. I didn't have a way to stop it.

"Jay," I gasped out through a sob. "I don't know what to do."

In a minute, he was in front of me, pulling me in for a hug. "You don't have to know right now. You have two days. But I'm not going to tell you. And neither is Evie or Carlos. We know we'll be the happiest wherever you are… So, we'll follow you."


	13. Anger Management

We had been invited to join the festivities of family day, despite having no family to see.

The four of us got all dressed up and walked out of the dorms a few minutes after it had been planned to start.

People stood around the garden haphazardly. There were simple decorations set up and tables for food. And at the very front, Ben was leading a few other students in a song and dance arrangement of 'Be Our Guest'.

The students were too busy enjoying the show to notice us walk through, although for most of them, it didn't really matter anymore. We were old news.

The boys were all over the chocolate fountain the minute we got there. Evie and I stood nearby to watch over Dude and ensure that they didn't destroy the table or something and ruin the festivities. And I may have stolen a strawberry or two.

Once the song was over, Ben began socializing with other students and moved on to talk to his parents. I didn't bother trying to talk to him. I knew that he'd be occupied today.

"So far, not so bad, huh?" Evie prompted, bouncing the dog in her arms as if she were burping a baby.

"Except the fact that Jay is sticking his face in the fountain," I laughed.

Evie spun on her heel. "Jay!"

He looked like a caught puppy and he quickly wiped the excess chocolate from his lips.

"_Mal!_" Ben called.

I waved at him, smiling. But I hesitated when I noticed both his parents' faces. They weren't exactly thrilled to see me. I wondered if he had told them we were dating yet.

He beckoned me over, so I gave Evie a quick goodbye and walked towards the family.

Ben and his father wore matching suits, a cute sentiment to someone like me. You would never see that on the Isle.

I approached the walkway they were on and Ben stepped away from his family, meeting me halfway.

"I want to introduce you to my parents," he explained and gave me a quick hug.

I did my best to appreciate the hug while it lasted. This wasn't going to be an easy talk. Fortunately, he wrapped his hand around mine when we turned to look at his parents. It was comforting, and I hung onto his arm like it was my lifeline.

"This is Mal," he told them. "From the island. My girlfriend."

Well… they definitely knew. Belle's face was tight as she smiled at me, but they both tried to be civil.

"Hi!" she blurted out, no doubt uncomfortable.

"Hi," I smiled back.

"I was thinking maybe she could join us for lunch," Ben suggested.

"Of… course," the king responded. "An-Any friend of Ben's…"

"Um…" I started, scratching the back of my head. "I actually came with my friends."

I was hoping to give the king and queen an out. I still didn't know what my decision for the Coronation was going to be. There was no point in forcing a relationship with them and I knew that they wanted to have a peaceful family day with their son.

Sadly, they were too polite to take the offer. Instead the queen said, "Well, you should invite them."

The king stared at them, his face turning to one of concern. I didn't need to look to know what they were up to. No doubt, Carlos still had chocolate smeared across his mouth and Evie was still cradling the dog like a child. Jay, if I had to guess, had a mouthful of something.

"Because the more, the merrier!" Belle finished.

"Yeah," I nodded. I guess we were all invited to lunch now. "I'll go grab them."

"Uh, how about a game of croquet before lunch?" Beast offered.

God, they were just too nice for me. "Of course," I said, in my brightest voice.

"Game on!" Ben challenged, stepping away from me to fistbump his dad.

We all laughed, politely. Then, Ben wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me away.

"Have you played before?" he asked, leaning in so that his parents couldn't hear.

"No," I whispered back.

"No?" He paused. "You'll be fine," he decided.

* * *

Carlos loved croquet. Not for the game itself, but because the field was so open that he could run around with Dude without causing an upset with the players.

Evie decided not to play. Neither did the queen, so they struck up a conversation about Evie's dress, Evie explaining that she made most of her clothes herself. I was shocked that it was all playing out so nicely.

Jay was struggling with the concept of the game. It wasn't very physical. Jay thought that it would make sense to just hit the ball as hard as possible and Ben had to show him how to play more gently.

"Here," Ben was saying. "Stand here." He showed him how to position himself in front of the croquet ball. Then, Jay took a swing. "Nice!" Ben complimented.

I watched them cheer and high five for a moment, before an older woman approached me.

"Hello there," she smiled.

"Hi."

"Now, have we met?"

I glanced over at her, but I was already certain that we hadn't. "No. I don't think so. I'm new. I'm sort of like a… transfer student." I did my best to be diplomatic in my explanation.

"Ah, I see."

I went back to paying attention to the game, but her conversation caught my attention.

"Oh Audrey! Give Grammy a kiss, dear," she exclaimed.

To my right, possibly the person who hated me most in the entire school, was kissing the cheeks of the sweet lady I had just met.

Audrey froze, catching my eye.

"Grammy?" I questioned.

I looked at the lady and froze. _That's why she thought she knew me_… I looked a lot like my mother.

"Sleeping Beauty's mother," Audrey sneered. She looked me up and down, judgmentally, as she explained, "Grammy, I don't think you want to be talking to this girl. Unless you feel like taking another hundred year nap."

The grandmother's face contorted into one of confusion. I smiled at her, trying to look as polite as possible, although I knew that any minute now she would recognize me.

It was the smile that did me in. "You!" she shrieked.

I stumbled back, dropping the croquet bat. Others noticed, as well. I could see Fairy Godmother asking others to pause their games as she approached.

"H-How are you here?" she asked. "And how have you stayed so young?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but Ben was at my side in a minute.

"Queen Leah!" he greeted. "It's okay. Maleficent's still on the island. This is her daughter, Mal."

He squeezed my shoulders and I tried to smile at her again.

This wasn't good. This was causing an actual scene. Almost everyone was staring at this point. Ben's parents were monitoring from a distance and the headmistress was trying to make students back away from the scene.

"Don't you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?" he asked.

"A chance to what, Ben?" she snarled. "Destroy us?" She turned to the Fairy Godmother, trying to convince others. "Come on, you remember, don't you? The poison apples? And the spells?"

I couldn't find words to remedy the situation.

"Spells," she whispered, glaring at me. "My _daughter _was raised by fairies, because of your mother's curse. So, her first words, her first steps, I missed it all!"

She started to cry, the horrible memories reappearing in her mind. She turned away from us, trying to calm herself down.

"I'm so sorry," I tried to say, but I was pushed away by Chad.

"Go away! Stay away from her!"

I shrieked, stepping backwards. Evie and Jay walked around to support me, Evie running a hand over my back.

"Don't do this, Chad," Ben threatened.

"What? They were raised by their parents, Ben. What do you think villains teach their kids, huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way!"

I bit down on my lip, staring hard at the ground. I couldn't freak out right here. If I got upset, I could lose control of my anger. We all could.

"You stole another girl's boyfriend," Chad jabbed at me.

I scoffed, but Ben stepped in front of me. "Hey! Hey!"

He pointed a finger at Jay. "You enjoy hurting people… And you," he stopped at Evie. "You're nothing but a gold digger and a cheater."

Evie was angry. She pushed past us, pulling out her mirror. "Mirror, mirror, in my hand-"

"Evie, don't-"

"Who's the biggest asshole in all the land?" She flashed the mirror at him.

I let go of Ben's hand, trying to get in between them, but I wasn't fast enough.

Chad smacked Evie's arm away and in a blink of an eye, Jay was rushing him.

"Back off, Chad!"

He reached up, grabbing Chad's shirt in his fists.

Many people ran to stop them, but it was me who intervened. I wrapped a leg around Chad's, knocking him off his feet, and shouldered Jay away.

Chad got the wind knocked out of him. Coughing and flailing on his back, like a fish. I stepped onto his chest, putting just enough pressure for him to know not to move.

"Don't you ever touch my friends again," I threatened. My eyes burned and I knew they were glowing. A few people gasped at the sight.

"Mal?" Ben was quiet, trying to pull me from my haze, but I was too far gone.

"Carlos!" Evie shrieked, doing her best to grab them and get out of there.

I lifted up my foot, redirecting the heel straight to his throat. His eyes were the size of planets.

I leaned down, trying to guarantee my words would hit home. "Or I will end you."

"Mal!" Evie shouted, but it was Jay who saved me.

He ran up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist, dragging me away like a child.

Carlos had finally made his way across the field and we all ran up the stairs, one of Jay's hands still locked onto my arm as if to ensure I wouldn't go back and beat Chad into a bloody mess.

"Guys!" Ben called after us, but we didn't stop.


	14. The Martyr

Jay forced me down into one of the park benches outside the school.

"How could you?" Jay snapped at me.

I didn't react. In all honesty, I was a bit numb from the whole experience.

"_Jay!_" Evie hissed. "Not now."

"You lost your cool back there," Jay continued. "You went full out Maleficent on Chad, when you promised you were going to try and be civil until the Coronation."

I snapped, shoving Jay away from me. "_I_ lost my cool? The only reason I intervened was because you practically had him by the throat, Jay!"

"You instigated a fight with an old woman-"

"I didn't say a _word _to her!"

"-you caught the attention of the whole school-"

"She's the one who yelled!"

"-and you threatened the life of a student!"

"_Shut up, Jay!_" I screamed.

"Guys!" Carlos tried to interrupt, but it was no use.

"No!" Jay screamed. "All you've done this whole week is push away everything that could convince you to go against your mother and I'm sick of it. She's not all powerful, Mal!"

"She's _my mother-_"

"And I'm your best friend!"

It all came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop it. "Best friend? Ha!" I looked between all three of them. "You three think that we're friends? You guys are just the deadweight kids of the people my mother is using as her stairs to power! She plans to kill you and your families the MINUTE SHE TAKES OVER!"

Jay faltered. "Excuse me?!"

Carlos stepped between us, breaking our eye contact. Suddenly, I was staring into another's angry face. "Mal, what are you talking about?" he insisted.

"You're all _fools _if you think my mother cares about a single one of you," I laughed. I looked insane. I felt insane. "She killed all my siblings! I'm the only one left!"

"Oh my-" Evie gasped, but I wasn't going to let her finish.

"My mother lives for the thought of slowly and painfully killing all of your parents. They drive her crazy!"

"And what about us?" Carlos tried again. "What reason does she have for wanting to kill us?"

"Reason?! She doesn't need a reason! She's insane. We're both insane," I snarled.

"Mal," Evie said, softly. "You're not like your mother. You don't need to go along with her plans-"

"NOT LIKE MY MOTHER?!" I screeched. "You think I don't have blood on my hands?! Believe me, I do."

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked, stepping out from behind Carlos.

"Do you guys remember Gothel's kid? Michael? He was 2 years younger than us. He went missing in July."

"Mal-"

"He's not missing," I spat. "He's dead. And I know this, because I was the one who smashed in his brains. I was the one who watched my mother's goons carry him out, like they have with others, and dump him into the water."

"Mal." Evie tried to step forward.

"I KILLED HIM!"

My voice echoed outside the empty school. No one responded for a minute. Then, I heard a soft, "What?"

Behind me was Ben. He looked completely shell shocked when I flipped around to stare at him.

It felt like my heart had just become a center of gravity and the whole world was compressing down on my chest. Why would I say any of that? I had never told anyone before. It was an awful, horrible stain in my humanity that I would never recover from. I could never escape from the memories.

And now it was out in the open. Now Evie and Carlos knew. Now Jay knew. Now _Ben _knew…

I bolted. I had nowhere to go, but I couldn't stand there a minute more. I couldn't look at the horror on my friend's faces. I couldn't stand there and admit to Ben what I had just said.

* * *

_Michael screamed out in pain, as I took another swing to his ribs. I did my best not to hit too hard. I couldn't bring myself to. But anything was torture in his condition._

_He deserves to pay for his crimes I tried to tell myself, but there wasn't any way to convince myself of that. No one deserved this. He was just a kid, trying to survive in a world of thieves and murderers and monsters. Monsters like me._

* * *

I ended up in a hallway. It was empty. Silent.

I skidded to a stop, tripping over my feet and hitting the ground hard.

I couldn't get up. I couldn't go anywhere. I curled into myself. Sobbing. Trying desperately to push old memories away.

* * *

"_Oh, hurry up already and finish the job," my mother snarled. "Kill him!"_

_The boy couldn't even look up at me. He lay almost completely still, a slow, piercing whimper escaping his throat._

"_Mother, I can't-"_

"_MAL!"_

"Mal!" Someone was calling me from a distance. "Mal?! Where are you?"

"Mal, it's us! Please… we just want to help!"

"_Kill him!"_

_Beat._

"_Kill him!"_

_Beat._

"_KILL HIM!"_

_Smash…_

_You know when you touch something with a strange texture and you hands feel weird? Like they didn't like it and are trying to expel the feeling?_

_After hitting Michael across the head, my arms numbed. As if trying to forget the feeling of his skull being crushed underneath the crowbar._

_I vaguely recall hitting the ground and watching my vomit mix in with the pools of blood._

_I didn't move a muscle as my mother ordered for the guards to take him away. I didn't move until my mother lifted me up by my collar, almost like a kitten, and dragged me back inside._

* * *

Ben lifted me from my shoulders, gently placing me in his lap.

"Mal," he whispered. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Ben, I'm so sorry," I gasped.

"She needs to monitor her breathing. Deep breaths," Evie advised, from behind him.

"It's okay," he kept saying. "Breathe with me."

"I didn't mean-" I sobbed, "I didn't mean to-"

"Shh… You're okay," he said into the top of my head. "Just keep breathing. There's nothing to apologize for."

"But-"

"You are not your mother," he told me. "You aren't evil. You aren't a villain. You're my Mal. And I love you so much."

* * *

"Is she going to be okay for tomorrow?" I could hear Jay say quietly.

"She'll be fine," Evie reassured. "She just needs a couple of hours to rest. She's… been through a lot."

"No kidding," Carlos mumbled.

I took in a deep breath, then pushed myself up. I was in my bed in the dorm rooms. "I don't need to rest."

They all turned to stare at me, wide eyed. Evie and Carlos sat across from one another at the table. Jay was already standing and quickly walked up next to the bed.

"Hey, Mal. How are you feeling?"

"Kinda shitty," I mumbled.

"I'm so sorry for yelling at you today," he admitted to me. "I lost it on you."

"We both did," I replied, quickly. Jay and I didn't really do the sappy, heart to heart stuff, but it meant a lot to me that he tried. "We have more important matters at hand right now."

"Mal, we don't have to talk about this now. You need to get some more sleep-"

"The Coronation is tomorrow, Evie. There is no time."

Everyone looked around, waiting to hear what I had to say.

"We are not going to take that wand tomorrow," I insisted. "And you three are _never _going back to the island."

Evie and Jay's faces lit up. Jay even wrapped his arms around me in excitement. But Carlos picked up on my lack of enthusiasm.

"And you?" he demanded. "You said the three of us would never go back, but what about you, Mal?"

Jay's muscles tensed around my back and I slowly pushed away.

"That… That depends."

"On what?" Jay growled.

I looked between them all. "Jay… you asked me yesterday to really think about what makes me happy. And I have… And I thought about you guys. I mean, stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy!"

A smile crept onto his face.

"And you," I said to Carlos, "scratching Dude's belly makes you happy, who would've thought."

I giggled. A tear slipped down my face.

"And Evie, you are so smart. You amaze me every time you open your mouth."

She looked about ready to burst into tears.

"And you're right, Jay. I don't want to take over the world with evil. It doesn't make me happy. I want to stay here, with you guys. And with Ben… Because Ben makes me really happy."

He looked me up and down. "Then what's the problem?" he asked.

I sighed. It had taken me awhile to come to this conclusion. I was still trying to process my thoughts as I said them aloud to my friends. But I knew in my heart it was the right choice.

"Tomorrow, after the Coronation, I will give Ben the antidote to his spell. And I expect… he's not going to be happy with me. I'll come clean about everything, except your involvement. And when it's over… if he decides to send me back to the Isle, back to my mother, I will go."

"You can't!" Evie shot up. "Mal, she'll kill you!"

I shook my head. "Honestly, I hope she does. There are much worse things I've seen her do."

"We'll go with you," Jay decided. "Tell Ben that we were all a part of it. That way we're all sent back and can protect one another-"

"No! You guys don't understand. You need to stay here. You need to stay away from your parents and… be happy. There's no reason for us all to die. In fact, my mother will happily use you three against me. I have to go alone."

No one argued. There wasn't anything to argue.

Evie rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm so proud of you, Mal," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "You are so brave."

"Let me in." Carlos got up and pushed his way into our arms, joining the hug.

Once the three of us were settled, we looked at Jay.

"Please no," he grumbled, but Evie grabbed his arm and pulled him in with us.

There was silence for a beat or two. Just the four of us, with our arms wrapped around one another, heads down.

"It's not fair," Carlos said. "You've spent your whole life being tortured by Maleficent and now, you have to be the martyr who stops her grand plan."

Jay squeezed me closer to him in the hug. "Don't worry. If Ben sends you back there tomorrow, I promise I'll kill him for you."

We all laughed.

Finally, we slowly pulled apart from one another.

"I actually have a surprise for you, Mal," Evie confided.

I raised an eyebrow. "A surprise?"

"Yeah," she breathed, a grin on her face. It was somewhat distorted by her tears, but it was happy nonetheless. "I've been working on something for you. For the Coronation."

She shuffled back to her closet, pulling out a long, lavender dress.

"Oh, Evie," I started, but she shushed me.

"Come take a look."

She held it up and I started to touch it, identifying the separate pieces. The skirt was long and ruffled. It had a short train, which was scrunched up on the floor at her feet.

There wasn't much in the way of sleeves and the collar was high, haloing my neck just like my mother's did on her cape.

"Evie, it's so beautiful," I told her.

"It gets better," she said, with a smirk. She then, flipped it around, giving me a look at the wide open back.

"Oh no," I muttered. "Evie, I can't wear this."

"Of course you can!" she prompted.

I shook my head wildly. "Evie, my scars! My burns! Everyone will be able to see them."

"That's the point," Carlos admitted, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to look at it as well. "Think of the statement you'll be making! About what kids have to face on the Isle all the time! Anyone who has a single doubt about Ben's proclamation will have to eat their words when they see you walk with the new king, proudly displaying your past pain."

I chuckled. "My current pain," I half-joked.

"So, you'll wear it?" Evie asked, bouncing with excitement.

I nodded. "Yes, Evie. I'd be honored to wear it."


	15. A Simple Yes

They had us set up on a pristine white carriage, led by two horses. It was too showy for me. I know it was all for the presentation. Get people excited and all. But people cheered for us as we rolled by, with banners and confetti.

It would have made me feel a bit better if I wasn't with him, just because I was his girlfriend. If we had been married, it might have made more sense, but girlfriends are fairly temporary… like Audrey was.

There was a small box in my lap, containing the antidote to his spell. It sat on the folds of my skirt, shaking along the ride.

I stared at it. I wasn't sure how to give it to him. He couldn't eat it now and cause a scene on his big day, but I was worried that I wouldn't get the chance to see him after the Coronation.

He glanced at me, noticing my lack of focus, and reached out to hold my hand.

"Don't be nervous," he told me.

I smiled. It was silly that he was telling _me _not to be nervous when he was the one being crowned king. But I was nervous. Really nervous.

"All you have to do is sit there and look beautiful. No problem there."

I gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Thank you."

"Mal? Would you wear my ring?"

I raised an eyebrow as he reached for his class ring. I knew that this was often a custom for high school couples. It was sort of a promise to one another.

I pulled my hand away quickly. It was too much. Too big of a commitment. I had a feeling that in just a few hours, he would hate my guts and wish to send me back to the island. He very well might.

"Um," I mumbled. "Not now? I think it would probably just fall right off of me."

He looked away, disappointed and started to fiddle with the ring in his fingers.

I did my best to change the subject, deciding now was as good a time as any to hand him the small, blue box in my lap. "I have something for you."

"For me?"

"Yeah," I responded and he opened up the gift. "It's just for later. When you need strength. Some carbs to keep up your energy."

His face broke out into a grin. "Always thinking."

I shrugged and turned back to the people. I needed to keep up a good face. I smiled and waved, watching them murmur to themselves about me. I didn't think about the ridicule. I wanted to enjoy this last day.

"But I can't wait," Ben said quickly and before I had time to argue, he had stuffed half the cupcake in his mouth.

I froze, my heart stopping.

"Mm. This is really good." His voice was distorted as he tried not to speak with a mouthful.

"Uh… Do-"

"Mal?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you feel okay?" I stuttered.

"You bet," he said, smugly.

"Would you say that you're still in- that-" I was choking over my words. Any minute now, he was going to realize what an awful person I was. He would knock me off the carriage and call the guards to drag me back home. "That you have very strong feelings for me?"

He shrugged, finally putting the cupcake away. "Not sure. I mean, let's give the anti-love potion a few minutes to take effect."

If my heart had stopped when he ate the cookie, my brain had stopped after that comment. "Wh-"

He laughed, watching my face fall, in horror.

"You knew?!" I gasped.

"That you spelled me? Yeah." He licked the last of the chocolate off his teeth and went back to smiling at his subjects. "Yeah, I knew."

"I- I can explain myself-" I tried to say, but he stopped me.

"I was angry at first," he explained. "But I've long since forgiven you."

"Why?"

He smiled. "Because you didn't even have to say it for me to know you were sorry. You still went along with the whole 'being in love' thing, but I could tell that you felt… unnatural. You thought it was fake. And just now, you proved that to me. Because you wanted to release me."

I still wasn't able to process the fact that he didn't seem mad at me. "So then, how long have you known?"

"Since our first date. Your spell washed away in the enchanted lake."

I blinked. Any minute now, someone was going to grab me by the arms and drag me out of the kingdom for putting a spell on the prince, right?

"So then, what? You've just been… faking it since then?"

I could feel water collecting in my eyes, but I wouldn't cry here. I wasn't going to cry in front of Ben.

I looked down, right in time to watch him slide his class ring onto my finger.

He picked up my hand and kissed it, gently. I followed my line of sight right back into his eyes.

"I haven't been faking anything," he said, sincerely.

I made the snap decision to admit to him why I did it after the Coronation. There was still a chance he would send me away for it. But perhaps… he had seen the way I had changed. Maybe Ben really did…

Maybe he would still love me.

The carriage came to a stop in front of the castle. Ben hopped out first, then reached out a hand to escort me down. As we started our journey up the stairs, the cheers all but stopped.

My back was finally on full display. Scars and burns out to the public.

My hand tightened around Ben's, but I wasn't afraid anymore. I had warned Ben that this would happen and he told me, "Let it happen."

Neither of us slowed down. Neither of us paused or dropped our smiles. We were content.

The king and queen were waiting for us atop the steps. They wore outfits reminiscent of the ones they were known for. Belle in her yellow gown and Beast in a blue and gold suit.

The whole castle was decorated in blue and yellow. The workers wore gold suits and there was a blue carpet that ran up the stairway. Everyone bowed for their soon-to-be king as we walked past, finally approaching Ben's parents.

I curtsied for them the minute we reached the final step. I knew that I hadn't made a great impression the day before and hoped that they wouldn't be upset with my attendance to the Coronation.

"I told Ben this wasn't going to be easy," the King informed me.

"You also taught me that a king has to believe in himself," Ben added. "Even when it isn't easy."

"I did?" Belle smacked him. "I… How very wise of me," he corrected.

Ben's mother stepped forward, reaching for his hands. "We are very proud of you," she told him. "You keep listening to your heart."

"Thanks mom."

They were both so caring. I didn't want to say anything. I would have happily watched the family interact for longer, but the show must go on.

"You're going to make a fine king," his father finished, then held out an arm for his wife, and went to set themselves in place.

Ben stepped forward after they had left and grabbed my hand. He ran his fingers over the class ring he had placed there and mumbled, "Wish me luck."

Behind me, an escort cleared his throat and reached out an arm to take me away. I had a place waiting for me at the front of the room, which I had to get to before Ben began his descent through the castle.

The walk to my spot was quiet. I could faintly make out Evie, Jay, and Carlos up on the balcony. The king and queen were situated in their thrones, on either side of the wand.

I gulped, staring at it. Less than two days ago, I was making plans to steal that very artifact and free my mother from her prison. Two days ago… I _wanted _that.

It seemed almost impossible how much I had changed in a few days.

A children's choir serenaded him as the front doors opened and Ben began to make his way to the front of the room. Each individual bowed for him as he passed.

And he looked so regal. He walked with perfect posture, his face serene, staring ahead at all times. He was so ready to take the throne and he deserved it. He had worked so hard to prepare for this and he was ready to take on the responsibility. He had truly found his calling.

I bowed along with the others, glancing up only to find him smiling at me. And in that moment I knew… he would never send me back.

He knew my past. All the spots and stains. He knew how I had wronged him and wronged others. And he had forgiven me. All my friends had.

I still planned to tell him everything. My mother's plot and all. And I accepted any punishment the kingdom see fit. But Ben loved me. And he would never send me to that hell ever again.

The king bowed before Fairy Godmother, allowing her to take the crown from his head and approach Ben, who was kneeling before the wand.

The whole thing was very ceremonial. She lifted the crown well above her head, before gracefully placing it upon Ben.

He smiled like he just couldn't help himself.

Taking the wand in her hands, Fairy Godmother began. "Do you solemnly swear to govern the peoples of Auradon with justice and mercy as long as you shall reign?"

"I do solemnly swear," he projected.

"Then it is my honor and my joy to bless our new king-" she was interrupted as the wand was ripped from her grasp.

The whole room gasped, backing away as Jane flailed wildly, the wand sputtering and sparking in her hands.

"_Child what are you doing?!_" Fairy Godmother screamed at her daughter.

"If you won't make me beautiful, I'll do it myself!"

She didn't have the powers her mother had and the wand had complete control over her. It threw her back and forth, shooting out spells at random.

No one dared approach her, in fear of getting hit.

Ben almost instantly ran in front of me, but I didn't let him get all the way there before charging Jane.

I knew that I was one of the few people in the room who could hold that wand steady. I was the daughter of a fairy. And I had experience with magic.

I wrapped my arms around her from behind, so that she couldn't accidentally shoot me, and I ripped the wand from her grip.

The whole room froze, staring at me, the daughter of the Mistress of All Evil, with Fairy Godmother's wand in my hands. Jane bolted, ashamed and afraid.

I froze, staring at the object and a horrible, sickly, dark feeling overwhelmed me.

"Mal?" Ban asked, stepping in front of me. "Mal, what's wrong?"

"EVIE! JAY! CARLOS!" I screamed to them at the top of my lungs.

"Mal!" Ben tried again. "What's wrong?"

I blinked. "Ben! Ben, you need to run. Hide somewhere. Take the wand," I added, shoving it into his arms. "Go!"

"Mal?!"

Behind me my friends burst in, sprinting down the hallway. I whipped around to talk to them.

"Guys, she's coming!"

"That's not possible!" Jay said, skidding to a stop in front of me.

"How do you know?" Evie asked.

"The wand," I gasped. "I picked it up and I could feel her getting closer and closer. Jane must have broken a hole in the barrier when she was holding it."

"What do we do?!" Carlos demanded.

"What can we do? If my mother is off the Isle, there's almost no stopping her!"

"Maleficent?" Ben was still standing behind me, wand grasped against his chest.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted at him. "Run! Go! You have to get out of here!"

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving you here with her!"

"The wand, Ben! She's after the wand! You need to take it and-!"

It was too late. In a puff of green smoke, she appeared in the center of the room, separating Ben and I from my friends.

"I'm back!" she announced.

I positioned myself directly in front of Ben, not only to shield him, but to hide the wand from her view.

"Wand me!" My mother demanded, stepping up to me.

I froze, terrified. I tried opening my mouth to tell her that I didn't have it, but nothing came out.

She looked me up and down, sneering. "Pathetic."

Then, she reached forward and threw me to the side. My wrist burned as I landed on it.

Fortunately, Ben was fast enough to throw the wand directly at the Fairy Godmother.

"Bippity Boppity-" she started.

"Boo!" My mother cried and swung her scepter in the air, causing the entirety of the castle to freeze in time, with the exception of herself and the five of us.

We all watched in horror, as she sauntered up the stairs and ripped the wand out of Fairy Godmother's hands.

Ben reached a hand down and helped me to my feet.

"Where shall we begin?" she laughed, evilly. "I know! Let's start by getting rid of this!"

She pointed the wand to me and in a flash, Ben's class ring flew off my finger and slid down the base of the stick.

"Perfect fit!" she joked.

She took a step down towards us and I wrapped my arms around my friends, as if I could shield them.

She watched me, mildly amused. "Falling in love was weak. It's not what you want."

"You don't know what I want," I growled.

"I don't care what you want!" she snarled. "You're dead to me."

With a flick, the four behind me were tossed backwards like rag dolls. I couldn't see what happened to them, but I knew hits like that weren't things you could just shake off.

She moved the wand and scepter into one hand, glaring at me. "You were going to leave me there," she hissed. "Live out your happy little fantasy life on the Isle, huh?"

In a flash, she threw her hand back and smacked me across the face. The hit was so powerful that I landed on the floor.

"How could you?! I gaVE YOU EVERYTHING!"

I tried to stand up, but she held down the hem of my dress with the end of her scepter. As I struggled to get away, she lifted a foot and slammed the heel into my cheek.

I screeched, tasting the blood that filled my mouth.

Suddenly, she let go. "I don't know why I waste time, when I have this lovely new toy to play with."

I tried to back away. With a swish of the wand, she had torn through my chest, blood seeping through the tear in my dress.

I reached up, trying to cover the wound, but it was no use.

"Mal!" Ben screamed running towards me.

"Ben?" I turned, just in time to watch my mother break one of his legs with her new magical abilities.

He hit the ground nearby, wailing in pain

"Ben!" I tried to reach him, but I didn't make it, before my mother got another brilliant plan.

"Oh, you two love each other so much? What a perfect punishment for the new king and the traitor."

She laughed maniacally, then a new wave of pain hit me.

This one was different. It came straight from the inside. My stomach ached and chest was on fire. I curled in on myself, screaming out in pain.

Ben tried to drag himself up to me, his destroyed leg dragging behind him. "Mal?! Mal, what's wrong?"

"Aw," Maleficent jabbed. "Are you sad to watch your dear princess in pain? How about-"

She was cut off by Jay charging her, grabbing onto her scepter and trying to take it from her grasp.

Sadly, Jay had no magical abilities and the scepter didn't budge. My mother had total control over it.

Her eyes glowed, threateningly.

A blast erupted from the top of the scepter, knocking Jay down onto his back, the wind knocked out of him.

"Jay!" I called, feeling the effects of the spell she had me under wear off slightly as she focused her attention on Jay.

I forced myself to my feet, stumbling towards them.

"Now really dear," she looked me up and down, "You would think you'd have learned your lesson by now-"

I flung an arm out towards her. "And now I command, wand to my hand!"

It felt as if all the air in my lungs left, to help guide the wand into my possession, but it worked.

"Mal!" Evie called.

Behind me, Evie and Carlos were finally fumbling towards us. Evie's dress was torn and her temple was bleeding. Carlos was favoring his right leg, although his shin wasn't shattered, like Ben's was.

They helped Ben and Jay to their feet as I stared down my mom.

"This is between you and me, mother," I growled at her.

She smirked. "You got good at magic. I'm almost impressed. Perhaps I will keep you alive. Although you'll have to go through some major disciplining first."

I swallowed the metallic taste in my mouth. I wouldn't back down now. Not with all my friends standing behind me.

I lifted the wand up to her chin, my eyes lighting up, bright green.

"The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts as one!" I chanted.

Her bright eyes met mine, confident that she wouldn't lose to my power. I had never been able to match her strength before. But if all the fairytales that our lives were based around were true, good would always prevail.

"The strength of evil is good as none, when stands before five hearts as one! The strength of evil is good as none, when STANDS BEFORE FIVE HEARTS AS ONE!"

In another puff of green smoke, my mother screamed, dissipating with the smoke, leaving in her wake only a black cape and two covered horns.

I stared at it, unable to breathe. My eyes pricked with tears, watching the pile as if expecting this to all be a joke and for her to come back any minute now.

With the wand now in the hands of a pure soul, Fairy Godmother was reawakened. She slowly stepped down, staring between what was left of Maleficent and the broken, exhausted teens in front of her.

"Did I do that?" I cried. "Did I kill her?"

She shook her head sadly, "Mal, I'm so sorry."

I burst out into tears, falling down beside my mother's remains.

Carlos knelt down beside me. "Mal," he murmured, rubbing comfortable circles into my back. "I think it's time to give the Fairy Godmother her wand back."

"I'm sorry," I said, rawly. "Here."

I dropped the wand into her outstretched hands, then continued mourning my mother.

It hurt like hell. Not really her death as much as the fact that I killed her. I had watched her murder two of my siblings. And at one point this might have felt like payback, but right now, all I felt was complete and utter fear. I had done what she had done. I had become a monster. Someone who kills their own family.

Carlos wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into his shoulder.

"Bippity Boppity Boo!" the Fairy Godmother yelled.

The tear across my chest disappeared, leaving an ugly, bloody stain. My wrist and stomach also healed themselves. On the outside, I was perfectly healthy.

Ben, who was now able to use his leg, was next to me, gently wrapping his arms around me and taking me from Carlos.

I couldn't stop crying, even as all the people came out from their spells and watched me, collapsed into Ben's chest.

* * *

Ben stayed with me throughout it all. Days on end of sobbing, and panic attacks, and nightmares.

His Coronation was rescheduled for a week later, but no one made me go. I didn't think I'd be strong enough.

Evie took care of me the days that I had locked myself into the dorm room. She brought me food and made sure that I drank a lot of water. She was constantly finding new tricks to monitor my breathing and calm myself down.

Jay and Carlos would visit. Carlos would teach Dude new tricks to make me laugh and Jay would tell me what was happening outside the castle, often times sitting beside me on the bed, with an arm around my shoulders.

Anyone who had escaped during the brief time the barrier was open had been rounded up and sent back to the Isle. Everything was how it should be.

Two days after the (re)Coronation, I found the strength to leave the dorms by myself. I looked a mess, I was well aware, but it didn't matter. The hallways were completely empty as I walked to the main school building.

Fairy Godmother stopped short when she saw me walk in. "Mal, dear! Did you need something?"

"I, uh…" My voice was raspy, as it had been gone for the past few days. "I was wondering if I could speak to Jane?"

She looked at me, curiously, but didn't argue. "Yes, of course dear. I believe she's out in the garden."

I thanked her and scurried away, hoping to catch Jane before she left.

Lucky enough, Jane was seated by the front entrance, next to Audrey. They were speaking quietly to one another, both freezing when they saw me enter.

"Hi," I murmured.

Neither girl made a move to greet me back. But I didn't expect it. I didn't come here to be their best friend and sit and gossip with them.

"Jane," I began. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

She widened her eyes, flabbergasted. "No, I'm sorry! I should never have grabbed the wand! It was completely out of line and I messed up so bad by letting your… By opening the barrier," she corrected. "You saved me."

I shook my head wildly, "But you never would have wanted the wand if I hadn't put all those awful thoughts in your head! I convinced you that you weren't beautiful and that you didn't deserve other's love for it. But Jane, you are not worthless. You are so beautiful. Inside and outs."

She bit down on her lip, trying not to smile too much. "Thank you, Mal."

I nodded and my eyes caught Audrey's.

After a second, she spoke. "I'm… I'm sorry about your mother."

My eyes went glassy, but I shrugged and said, "As long as she can't hurt anyone anymore."

Stepping away from the two of them, I left the garden, just in time to see Ben running towards me. "Mal!" he called. "What are you doing? Are you okay?"

I nodded and he pulled me in for a hug.

"Why did you leave the room alone?" he said into my ear.

Looking up, he saw the two girls exit the garden behind me and breathed out a quick, "oh."

I pulled away from him. "I hope I didn't scare you."

"Only a little," he admitted, cheekily.

Holding hands, we began to make our way back to the school dorms.

"Are you feeling any better today?"

I thought about it for a moment. "I think I'm slowly starting to feel better everyday."

"That's good."

"It is a bit overwhelming though," I admitted. "Taking over the mantle of 'Mistress of all Evil'"

Ben chuckled. "Oh no. Should I be worried?"

We laughed, bumping shoulders.

"But, in total honesty Mal," he said. "Are you going to be okay? Is there something I can do to make this easier for you?"

I glanced at the floor, then back to him. "I'm just so scared that I'm going to become… _like _her, you know?"

He stopped me, shaking his head. "You are nothing like her."

"You don't know that-" I tried to say.

"Yes I do. Because I'm listening to my heart," he told me, sappily. "Maleficent would have never made the decisions you did on that day. You chose to be good and to stand up for what you believed in. You _protected _my kingdom, Mal."

"I want to be good," I admitted.

"You _are _good," he reassured me.

We continued the rest of the way back, in peaceful silence. It was comforting. I wanted to stay there forever, walking through the fields of Auradon with Ben for eternity.

"Yes," I whispered to him, as we approached my dorm room.

"Hm?" he questioned.

"I haven't answered your question. Two questions, in fact! But my answer to both is a simple, yes."

"What questions are those?"

"Well, the first was a couple minutes ago. You asked me if I was going to be okay. I had to think about it, but my answer… it's yes."

"And the second question?" he asked, with a smile.

"The second question is from way back to our first date," I informed him. "The spell washed off in the water, I jumped in to find you, you saved me, and then you asked-"

"'Do you love me?'" he finished, playing back the moment in his mind.

"The answer," I told him. "Is yes."

* * *

The sequel, "The Right Side of Wrong" has just been posted! Go check it out!


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